The use of global sensitivity analysis for improving processes: Applications to mineral processing

•Global sensitivity analysis (GSA) is applied to improve processes through case studies.•Comparisons of Sobol’, E-FAST and Morris global sensitivity analysis methods are done.•Global sensitivity analysis is compared with local sensitivity analysis.•It is concluded that GSA can be useful to analyze, compare, design and characterize separation circuits.

This paper analyzes the application of global sensitivity analysis (GSA) to the improvement of processes using various case studies. First, a brief description of the methods applied is given, and several case studies are examined to show how GSA can be applied to the study to improve the processes. The case studies include the identification of processes; comparisons of the Sobol, E-FAST and Morris GSA methods; a comparison of GSA with local sensitivity analysis; an examination of the effect of uncertainty levels and the type of distribution function on the input factors; and the application of GSA to the improvement of a copper flotation circuit. We conclude that GSA can be a useful tool in the analysis, comparison, design and characterization of separation circuits. In addition, we conclude that using the stage's recoveries of each species as input factors is a suitable choice for the GSA of a flotation plant.