Analysis of the Physicochemical Properties of Some Selected Non-Edible Vegetable Oil-Based Cutting Fluids Using the Design of Experiment (DOE) Approach

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Technical comments

1. In the methodology section, it is mentioned that 6 litres of vegetable oil were extracted. Justify the reason behind that.
2. Four different additives were used in the making process. On what basis these additives were selected? Is there any literature supporting the same?
3. The preparation of cutting fluid was carried out using magnetic stirrer with certain parameters. What is the separation time for the prepared emulsions? Is the preparation made based on train and error method?
4. Justify the reason for measurement of viscosity at 80 degrees Celsius.

Non-technical comments

1. All the figures are not centre aligned.
2. Label the figures wherever necessary.
3. In equation 1, the units of Ws were not mentioned.
4. Align the figure and table captions properly.
5. The sentence “The analysis was carried out using coded units” was italicized. Justify the reason for making it italic.
6. The font size of ABCD in the sentence “From Table 2, acid value of watermelon versus A B C D ” is different. Please make it consistent.
7. References are not given with consistency. For few references, the page numbers are given with pp. number and for few, they are not given. Maintain consistency. Insert the Doi number for the references.

 

Author Response

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Reviewer 2 Report

Comment file attached

Comments for author File: Comments.doc

Author Response

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Reviewer 3 Report

The manuscript gives an account of physical and chemical properties of two vegetable oils relevant in relation to their potential as cutting fluids.

The main weakness of the manuscript is the lack of a discussion on how these properties may influence the use of these fluids for cutting operations. Otherwise the manuscript describes in good details the procedures and the findings of the research.

The units of measurement are missing from most graphs and in many places throughout the manuscript, e.g. viscosity values are given in tables and graphs without units. Also acid value normally is expressed in milligrams.

There are a number of typos and English errors, otherwise the English is good.

Line 2: physiochemical should change to physicochemical (there are other places in the manuscript where this change needs to be made, the authors should follow this throughout)

Line 38: remove the dot between meal and there

Line 50: It is well known that the main weakness of natural oils is their thermal and oxidation stability at large temperatures. This statement needs removed or explained.

Line 123: Constants P and Q must be dimensional constants, so their units should be stated

Line 128: “watermelon oil-based cutting fluid” It would better be replaced by “watermelon seeds oil-based cutting fluid”. There are other places within the manuscript where this change must be made

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Non