Interfacial Phenomena and Reaction Kinetics between High Al Molten Steel and CaO-SiO2-Type Flux
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Please check mispelling. Please remove . after some citation and Figure x "."
Author Response
Thank you very much for your professional comments. We have checked the manuscript and revised it according to the comments. We submit here the revised manuscript as well as a list of changes. If you have any question about this paper, please give us the opportunity to revise it again.
Comment 1: Please check misspelling. Please remove "." after some citation and Figure x "."
Response:
We checked the language of the article, deleted the "." in the picture reference, and uniformly modified the format of the picture title.
Reviewer 2 Report
Submitted manuscript entitled “Interfacial Phenomena and Reaction Kinetics between High Al Molten Steel and CaO-SiO2-Type Flux" describe in details reaction mechanism between high Mn-high Al steel and slag, and the reaction experiment of Fe-Mn-Al melts with CaO-SiO2-type flux in MgO crucible at temperature 1873K. Topic is very interesting and I recommend it to publication. In my opinion paper is written in good language, but will be better if somebody more qualified judge about the English language and style. Technique, technology and research methods used in the work are adequate. Methods and obtained results prove founded thesis and show originality of the manuscript.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your professional comments. We have checked the manuscript and revised it according to the comments. We submit here the revised manuscript as well as a list of changes. If you have any question about this paper, please give us the opportunity to revise it again.
Comment 1: In my opinion paper is written in good language but will be better if somebody more qualified judge about the English language and style. Technique, technology, and research methods used in the work are adequate. Methods and obtained results prove founded thesis and show originality of the manuscript.
Response:
We examined the language of the article carefully and modified some of the expressions.
Reviewer 3 Report
Dear Authors,
In your paper, you discuss the results obtained by metallothermy for two compositions. You consider the melt as a two-phase medium from the point of view of the emulsion, you also take into account the affinity of the media. This is interesting enough.
1.In fact, you have a three-phase environment. The gas phase should also be taken into account here. In your work, you do not explain from what considerations the atmosphere of argon was chosen, and not nitrogen.
2.A very important parameter is the separation time of the metal and slag phases. Appraisals must be provided. They will allow you to choose the right process modes and get clean metal from oxide / slag inclusions.
3.I also ask you to pay your attention to the wording of the novelty of the work.
Good luck
Author Response
Thank you very much for your professional comments. We have checked the manuscript and revised it according to the comments. We submit here the revised manuscript as well as a list of changes. If you have any question about this paper, please give us the opportunity to revise it again.
Comment 1: In fact, you have a three-phase environment. The gas phase should also be taken into account here. In your work, you do not explain from what considerations the atmosphere of argon was chosen, and not nitrogen.
Response:
During the experiment, the gas phase mainly plays a protective role, reducing the partial pressure of oxygen in the gas phase and preventing the components in the molten steel from being oxidized by the gas phase. Therefore, both argon and nitrogen can meet the conditions. The reason for choosing argon is supplemented in the "experiment" section of the manuscript.
Comment 2: A very important parameter is the separation time of the metal and slag phases. Appraisals must be provided. They will allow you to choose the right process modes and get clean metal from oxide / slag inclusions.
Response:
The separation time of metal and slag phase is closely related to the interfacial reaction rate and the composition of molten steel. For the reaction between Fe-5Al alloy and CaO- SiO2 flux with high SiO2 content, the reaction rate is very fast at the beginning of the reaction, and the emulsification phenomenon is obvious. When the holding time reaches 10min, as the reaction rate slows down, the molten steel and slag are well separated. Similarly, for the system of Fe-5Al alloy and low SiO2 content CaO- SiO2 flux, the interfacial reaction rate is relatively slow at the beginning, so the emulsification phenomenon is not severe, mainly due to interfacial fluctuation and local emulsification. When the holding time reaches 15min, the reaction rate decreases to a certain extent, the local emulsification at the interface disappears, and the molten steel is separated from the slag phase. However, when Mn alloy is added to the molten steel, although the reaction rate is not affected, the emulsification phenomenon is more obvious. The reason for this phenomenon is analyzed in this paper, which is mainly related to the decrease of interfacial tension. For this system, the emulsion from the molten steel to the slag phase does not return to the molten steel body with the decrease of the reaction rate, so the molten steel and flux have been well separated when holding 10min.
Comment 3: I also ask you to pay your attention to the wording of the novelty of the work.
Response:
We examined the language of the article carefully and modified some of the expressions.
Reviewer 4 Report
Correct the manuscript:
- The relevance of the research is associated with an increase in the efficiency of the process of obtaining TWIP steel, and the novelty is with the refinement of the mechanism of interaction between molten steel with a high aluminum content and a flux of the CaO-SiO2 type, which is reflected in mathematical models. But the abstract does not provide quantitative indicators of the accuracy of the proposed mathematical equations;
- in the keywords, the phrase “process efficiency” should be added;
- the introduction should contain a clearly defined goal of the study and the objectives of the work;
- in the main part of the manuscript, all graphs should be drawn up in a scientific style, i.e. correctly place the experimental points. Experimental points are the main content of the graph, so they should be shown as clearly and large as possible. They are necessarily depicted with a measurement error in the form of segments, the length of which is equal to the error value in the selected scale (see Fig. 6, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19). Give the accuracy of the equations for the kinetics of Al mass transfer reactions in liquid steel with a flux of different SiO2 content. Evaluate the practical significance of the equations for improving the efficiency of the process of obtaining TWIP steel;
- in the conclusions, add the accuracy of mathematical equations and the prospect of further development of the topic.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your professional comments. We have checked the manuscript and revised it according to the comments. We submit here the revised manuscript as well as a list of changes. If you have any question about this paper, please give us the opportunity to revise it again.
Comment 1: The relevance of the research is associated with an increase in the efficiency of the process of obtaining TWIP steel, and the novelty is with the refinement of the mechanism of interaction between molten steel with a high aluminum content and a flux of the CaO-SiO2 type, which is reflected in mathematical models. But the abstract does not provide quantitative indicators of the accuracy of the proposed mathematical equations.
Response:
For the reaction between Fe-5Al and CaO- SiO2 flux, if the chemical reaction follows the first-order kinetics of Al in the metal, the eq (5) is also applicable when it is controlled by the chemical reaction or the mass transfer of Al in the metal phase, respectively. However, the interfacial chemical reaction takes place rapidly at high temperature, and the chemical reaction rate constant is much larger than the mass transfer coefficient. Moreover, compared with the previous studies on Al mass transfer coefficient, we think that using Al mass transfer rate control to describe the reaction process is more accurate.
For the reaction between Fe-13Mn-5Al and CaO- SiO2 flux, the reaction process can’t be well described by the mass transfer rate control of Al in molten steel. And during the reaction process, the formation of the product layer at the slag side interface and the SiO2 content in the slag are low, so it is more accurate to use SiO2 mass transfer rate control to describe the reaction process, and the results obtained are more reasonable.
The explanation is added to the "Kinetic Analysis of the Global Slag/Metal Reaction" section of the article
Comment 2: In the keywords, the phrase “process efficiency” should be added.
Response:
The word "process efficiency" is added to the keyword.
Comment 3: The introduction should contain a clearly defined goal of the study and the objectives of the work.
Response:
The introduction is further optimized and improved, adding a specific description of the purpose of the study.
Comment 4: In the main part of the manuscript, all graphs should be drawn up in a scientific style, i.e., correctly place the experimental points. Experimental points are the main content of the graph, so they should be shown as clearly and large as possible. They are necessarily depicted with a measurement error in the form of segments, the length of which is equal to the error value in the selected scale (see Fig. 6, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19). Give the accuracy of the equations for the kinetics of Al mass transfer reactions in liquid steel with a flux of different SiO2 content. Evaluate the practical significance of the equations for improving the efficiency of the process of obtaining TWIP steel.
Response:
Figs. 6, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 are optimized and the size of the experimental site is increased. Measurement errors have been added to some of the pictures. The accuracy of the dynamic equation is supplemented in the "Kinetic Analysis of the Global Slag/Metal Reaction" part of the article, and the evaluation of the practical significance of the equation is added in the "conclusion" part of the article.
Comment 5: In the conclusions, add the accuracy of mathematical equations and the prospect of further development of the topic
Response:
The evaluation of the accuracy and practical significance of the equation is increased in the “Kinetic Analysis of the Global Slag/Metal Reaction” part and the “conclusion” part.
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
Dear Authors,
You improved your manuscript. So I recommend it for publication in the present form.
Good luck
Reviewer 4 Report
Ok
