Experimental Assessment of a Laboratory Rotary Sample Splitter
Keywords:
Bias, Precision, Riffling, Sampling, Splitting, SubsamplingAbstract
A binary mixture of iron chips and sand was used to experimentally test the performance of a constructed laboratory sample splitter. Four tests were conducted and six subsamples were produced in each case. The subsamples were separated into their constituents and the percentage weight of iron chips was determined. The results obtained were examined statistically and it was observed that the mean value of the percentage weight of iron chips in the subsamples range from 30.4 – 35.7% which compared well with the sample true value of 33.3%. The biases of the subsamples range from 0.2 – 2.9%, the variance ranges from 0.790 – 2.334 while the coefficient of variation is 0.025 – 4.6%. The standard deviation of the subsamples produced in the experiment is 0.0889 – 1.5277%. The level of accuracy and precision of rotary sample riffling is superior to some other sampling techniques and the machine tested gave an intermediate performance indicating that it is suitable for routine and non-critical works. Rotary Sample Splitter is therefore recommended for splitting dry granular samples, whenever an efficient, accurate and mechanized technique for sample splitting is desired.
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