Response Surface Methodology for the Evaluation of Magnetite Partitioning Behavior in Polyethylene Glycol-Based Aqueous Biphasic System

Response surface methodology in the framework of central composite design has successfully applied to polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based aqueous two-phase system in order to evaluate its efficiency in extracting Fe from iron ores with respect to PEG molecular weight, PEG concentration and salt concentration factors. Furthermore, ANOVA and multiple regression analysis have provided a second-order polynomial equation that is highly capable of predicting the experimental results. The PEG molecular weight and weight percent of the salt in the feed had a major and minor effects on the iron ion partition coefficient, respectively.