Optimizing Signal-to-Noise Ratio in Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry Using Sequential Simplex Optimization

Optimization of phosphorus removal from secondary effluent using simplex method in Tianjin, China

“…A modified simplex method [14,19] allows the simplex to converge more rapidly toward an optimum by expansion or contraction along the line of reflection. Due to this improvement, the required number of experiments can be decreased distinctly [16,20,21]. The optimization was carried out for two parameters (n = 2), pH and amount of coagulant added.…”

“…Therefore, an experimental design methodology can be used to determine the optimum conditions for each coagulant precipitation. The sequential simplex method is a strategy that rapidly and efficiently locates the region of the optimum by varying all variables simultaneously [12,[14][15][16][17]. The simplex method uses a logical algorithm of reflection, expansion, and contraction rules to find the optimum with a small number of experiments [14].…”

Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy of Calcium in Foodstuffs in Non-Science-Major Courses

“…At least 42 articles dealing with calcium have been published in this Journal. Reported analyses of Ca using AAS have included determination of the phosphate interference in the flame analysis of calcium (7), calcium level in fruit juice (8), metal concentration in pure water by graphite furnace (9), calcium percentage in an analgesic tablet (10), calcium in serum samples through use of fuel-lean flame (11), analysis of calcium in brine (12), and optimization of signal/noise ratio using simplex optimization (13).…”

Introducing Chemometrics to Graduate Students

“…These are mainly statistical methods, but many instructors believe that they are best taught to chemistry students by chemists with experience from solving real problems. Several articles in this Journal have also outlined suitable experiments and exercises to teach multivariate calibration (2)(3)(4)(5)(6), pattern recognition (7)(8)(9), design of experiments (10)(11)(12), and simplex optimization (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Statistical design of chemical experiments was also discussed before the chemometrics era (19,20).…”