An approach utilizing the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to optimize Adsorption-Desorption of Natural Saudi Arabian Diatomite- with the Box- Behnken Design Technique

Saudi Arabian’s natural diatomite samples were subjected to physical adsorption–desorption characterizations using Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) and the Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH), performed under heating of 140 °C for different periods of hours: 6, 12, 18, and 24 h, to create a central optimization design with surface areas and total pore distributions. Seventeen experimental runs resulted in the primary composite factor design. The surface response describes 100 % variability with a determination coefficient of 1, signifying the quadratic model with an expected correlation coefficient (R²) is satisfied with a standard deviation of 0.2322, demonstrating the high predictability of the model. Moreover, the RSM results have been validated using the t-test with the observed R² value and adjusted R². The model selected with higher F and p values showed<0.0001, which subsequently described the significance of the developed model. The independent components were explained with the help of 3D surface and contour plots that compare the heating time, elapsed time, pressure, and relative pressure against the dependent variable. The plots revealed that the adsorbed quantities well depended on heating time, elapsed time, pressure, relative pressure for isotherm, BET surface area, Langmuir surface area, and t-plot Micropore area.