Open AccessImproving the Industrial Practice of Reactive Washing of Cork Stoppers Using a Fractional Factorial Design
Author(s) -
Diana G. Branco,
Catarina Santiago,
Luís Cabrita,
Dmitry V. Evtuguin
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
acs omega
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.779
H-Index - 40
ISSN - 2470-1343
DOI - 10.1021/acsomega.1c06209
Subject(s) - fractional factorial design , factorial experiment , response surface methodology , cork , chromatography , pulp and paper industry , volume (thermodynamics) , chemistry , bottle , central composite design , materials science , mathematics , composite material , engineering , statistics , physics , quantum mechanics
Reactive washing (RW) is a key process for disinfecting, purifying, and bleaching of cork stoppers to seal bottles with alcoholic beverages. Excessively severe treatment conditions deteriorate the surface properties of cork stoppers and must be strictly controlled. In this study, the conventional RW of natural cork stoppers was optimized employing a fractional factorial design. The RW variables (H 2 O 2 and NaOH concentrations, oxidation time, and washing water volume) were correlated with the final ISO brightness of the stoppers. A three-level and four-factor fractional factorial design within the response surface methodology approach allowed a quadratic model to predict the process response, where the H 2 O 2 concentration is the variable with the highest response (ISO brightness), followed by the NaOH concentration. The model obtained was validated, allowing the optimization of the process with savings of 37% in the concentration of H 2 O 2 and 33% in the concentration of NaOH and volume of washing water, without deteriorating the final appearance of the stoppers. In addition, the less severe treatment of stoppers under optimized conditions led to less degradation of their surface, thus favoring the receptivity to functional coatings.