Bonding Mechanism and Process Characteristics of Special Polymers Applied in Pelletizing Binders
Muslum Demir
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Title: Bonding mechanism and process characteristics of special poly- 2
mers applied in pelletizing binders
Author: Hongxing Zhao , Fengshan Zhou , Cunfa Ma, Zhongjin Wei , Wenjun Long
Manuscript ID: coatings-1965942
This review focuses on the study of importance of pellet binders.
My recommendation is to accept the paper for publication, nevertheless, some requirements should be considered:
Introduction: it is complete, description of different kinds of binders is shown but I think it would be interesting to develop the importance of these materials during processing.
The binding mechanism of organic binder in the pellets: several effects have been studied and the influence of each of them is clear.
Organic polymers: I think there is a good collection of experimental data for different types of organic compounds, however I recommend a small introduction on why to specifically select those shown.
Conclusions: Good review of the importance of organic binders, but a comparative study should be included that would allow to define of those previously presented which are the best based on the results obtained.
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 1 Comments
This review focuses on the study of the importance of pellet binders.
My recommendation is to accept the paper for publication, nevertheless, some requirements should be considered:
Point 1: Introduction: it is complete, description of different kinds of binders is shown but I think it would be interesting to develop the importance of these materials during processing.
Response 1: Thank you very much for receiving your suggestions. We reworked the introduction section by deleting and rewriting the third paragraph (Line 74~84). Thank you very much for your professional level and for carefully reviewing our paper, sincerely thank you for your valuable suggestions.
Point 2: The binding mechanism of organic binder in the pellets: several effects have been studied and the influence of each of them is clear.
Response 2: Thank you for giving such high recognition to our work and thank you very much for your hard work and review.
Point 3: Organic polymers: I think there is a good collection of experimental data for different types of organic compounds, however, I recommend a small introduction on why to specifically select those shown.
Response 3: Thank you very much for receiving your suggestions. On these points, we have the following ideas:
In this review, the pelletizing properties of seven common organic polymers such as CMC, starch, humic acid, lignosulfonate, guar gum, polyacrylamide, and molasses, are presented in tabular data.
- There are many types of organic pellet binders, including natural polymeric organic substances and artificially modified organic substances such as carboxymethyl starch and hydroxypropyl guar gum, as well as some organic wastes such as waste paper fibers and wood fibers. However, the high cost of natural modified organics and the poor performance of organic wastes lead to less widespread application in pellets.
- The main components of such organic polymers are hydrocarbons. On the one hand, they have good water solubility and high viscosity, which can significantly improve the strength of green and dry pellets by being able to form a strong adhesion with mineral particles, and on the other hand, they have a large water absorption, which can quickly regulate the water content of the pelletizing process and improve the pelletizing rate. This part is mentioned in the second paragraph of the INTRODUCTION section.
It is hoped that our above descriptions can help you better understand why to specifically select those organic polymers shown. Thank you very much for your profound question.
Point 4: Conclusions: Good review of the importance of organic binders, but a comparative study should be included that would allow the definition of those previously presented which are the best based on the results obtained.
Response 4: Thank you very much for your suggestion. We have added Table 7 at the conclusion to summarize the effect of the seven organic polymers mentioned above on the strength of pellet ore in a table kind in order to reflect the difference in the performance of various organic polymers in a visual comparison. Thank you very much for your professional level and for carefully reviewing our paper, sincerely thank you for your important suggestions.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
In this review manuscript, the authors reported bonding mechanism and process characteristics of special polymers applied in pelletizing binders.
It is a novel research area but the manuscript is missing critical points to consider for publication. Therefore, I recommend a minor revision of the current manuscript for publication in the Coatings. The following points should be addressed:
1. The introduction part should be extended to upgrade the importance of this work.
2. What are the innovation and prospects for this work?
3. Comparative data should also be given
4. The writing style, grammar and language usage should be checked by a native speaker.
5. This is not a good review format manuscript. Please double-check the manuscript from this perspective.
6. Cite similar studies from the Coatings
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 2 Comments
In this review manuscript, the authors reported the bonding mechanism and process characteristics of special polymers applied in pelletizing binders.
It is a novel research area but the manuscript is missing critical points to consider for publication. Therefore, I recommend a minor revision of the current manuscript for publication in the Coatings. The following points should be addressed:
- The introduction part should be extended to upgrade the importance of this work.
Response 1: Thank you very much for receiving your suggestions. We reworked the introduction section by deleting and rewriting the third paragraph (Line 74~84). Thank you very much for your professional level and for carefully reviewing our paper, sincerely thank you for your valuable suggestions.
- What are the innovation and prospects for this work?
Response 2: Thank you very much for receiving your question. On these points, we have the following ideas:
This review summarizes the adhesion mechanisms of organic polymers to iron ores and the performance characteristics of pellets. We believe that the following innovations and prospects exist in this review.
- Closely focused on theoretical studies, the adsorption mechanism of organic polymers to iron ores is summarized systematically and in detail, which clearly shows the current pellet ore theory for the reader
- The degree of influence of organic pellet binders on the strength of green, dry, and fired pellets is visualized through tabular data, providing the reader with clear research data
- For the common problem of insufficient strength of roasted pellet ores prepared by organic binders, we review the current solutions and methods, and analyze the relevant mechanisms, showing the advantages and disadvantages of organic binders clearly for the reader
- By comparing the pelletizing theories, experimental data, advantages and disadvantages of various organic binders, we can provide references for pellet researchers and pellet plants in the production and preparation of binders, especially for the preparation of cost-effective composite pellet binders
- Through this review, the environmental and economic problems associated with the current status of organic polymer pelletizing technology can be clearly demonstrated for the readers, which can provide references for further improvement of pellet ore production technology and pellet ore quality
- Comparative data should also be given
Response 3: Thank you very much for your suggestion. We have added Table7 at the conclusion, in which we compare the effect of the seven organic polymers mentioned above on the strength of the pellet ore, in order to reflect visually the difference in performance of the various organic polymers in comparison. Thank you very much for your professional level and for carefully reviewing our paper, sincerely thank you for your valuable suggestions.
- The writing style, grammar, and language usage should be checked by a native speaker.
Response 4: Thank you very much for your suggestion. We invited Amutenya Evelina, an African student from our group, to check the grammar of our article. She is from Namibia, mainly engaged in the research and preparation of humic acid and bentonite composites, and has published two SCI papers, with strong English editing and writing skills. We will work together to correct the many grammatical, linguistic, and writing style issues of the paper, thank you very much.
- This is not a good review format manuscript. Please double-check the manuscript from this perspective.
Response 5: Thank you very much for your suggestion. Throughout this review, we systematically summarized the adhesion mechanism and pelletizing properties of various organic binders in pellet ores. The distributed structure in the article layout may cause a lack of contrast between different substances of each other. To solve such a problem, we added Table 7 in the conclusion section to visually reflect the advantages and disadvantages of different organic binders in each chapter, thus making the structure of the article more concise, intuitive, and compact.
We hope you can correct us for any shortcomings. Thank you very much for your professional level and for carefully reviewing our paper, sincerely thank you for your valuable suggestions.
- Cite similar studies from the Coatings
Response 6: Thank you very much for your suggestion. We carefully cited three references of high relevance in Coatings journals, as shown below:
- 30. Pang, Z. Y.; Zhang, H. Z.; Ma, Y.; Song, D. W.; Shi, X. X.; Zhang, L. Q.; Zhou, Y., Polyglutamic acid binder for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries. Coatings 2022, 12 (10).
- Song, X. Y., Effect of storage conditions on the physicochemical characteristics of bilayer edible films based on iron Yam-pea starch blend and corn zein. Coatings 2022, 12 (10).
- 60. Li, N. N.; Zhou, Z. G.; Wu, F. Q.; Lu, Y. Y.; Jiang, D. Y.; Zhong, L.; Xie, F. W., Development of pH-indicative and antimicrobial films based on polyvinyl alcohol/starch incorporated with ethyl lauroyl arginate and mulberry anthocyanin for active packaging. Coatings 2022, 12 (10).
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Please refer to the attached file
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Response to Reviewer 3 Comments
Point 1:
ABSTRACT:
- Page 1: Please highlight why authors need to write a review for this topic in the abstract.
Response 1: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have reworked the Abstract section of the article as you requested(Lines 11~23). Thank you very much!
- Page 1, Line 23: Please give examples of large-scale application
Response 2: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. Organic binders are widely used in pellet mines. CMC derivatives Peridur and Alcotac series of polyacrylamide are widely used in Europe, America, Brazil, India, and other countries. In China, CMC is added to pellet plants of TISCO, Baosteel and Anshan Steel, etc. The modified humic acid pellet binder developed by Central South University is also widely used in some pellet plants and in southern cities of China. Due to the reworking of the Abstract, the wider application of the pellet binder is not covered, but the reasons for the need to write this review are highlighted. Thank you very much for your professional advice.
Point 2:
INTRODUCTION:
- Page 1, Lines 28-31: ‘Pelletizing binder….process [1]. ‘This sentence is too long… Suggest to separate into two sentences.
Response 3:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have split and simplified the sentence as you requested. Thank you very much!
- Page 1, Line 33: Please mention more specific places in China for bentonite.
Response 4:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. In this sentence, "Inorganic binders are mainly based on bentonite, and the average amount of bentonite added in China is as high as 2-3%, which is much higher than the foreign level of 0.5-0.7% [3]." The amount of bentonite added here is a statistical average of the use of bentonite in small, medium, and large pellet plants in China, and bentonite may be added up to 6%in some small private enterprises. In large pellet plants such as WISCO, TISCO, Anshanshan Steel, etc., where high-quality sodium bentonite may be used, the addition may be kept below 1.5%. I hope you will correct me if I am wrong, thank you very much!
- Page 1, Line 37: SiO2 - Need to write a full name and abbreviation/symbol in the bracket for 1st time that appears in the manuscript excluding the abstract. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 5:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have checked and modified for similar problems in the full text. Thank you very much!
- Page 1, Line 40: Should have citation/s for this statement ‘After continuous research and testing…’
Response 6: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have re-cited the references to the content there and marked it in green, thank you very much!
- Page 1, Lines 41-43: Should have citation/s for this statement ‘At present, … their sources.’
Response 7: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have re-cited the references to the content there and marked it in green, thank you very much!
- Page 1, Line 44: CMC - Need to write a full name and abbreviation/symbol in the bracket for 1st time that appears in the manuscript excluding the abstract. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 8: Thank you for your professional level, we corrected the mistakes in the paper in time under your instruction, sincerely thank you for your correction suggestions.
- Pages 1-2, Lines 40-52: Lack of citation/s. Please take note, all fact statement needs to have citation/s. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 2: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have re-cited the references to the content there and marked it in green, thank you very much!
Point 3:
THE BINDING MECHANISM OF ORGANIC BINDER IN THE PELLETS
- Page 2, Lines 69-74: Lack of citation/s. Please take note, all fact statement needs to have citation/s. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 10:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. In this section, we mainly summarize the main contents as well as the mechanism of this paper and describe the purpose and significance of this review. There are no references to other literature, so we do not consider it necessary to add references in this paragraph. thank you very much!
- Page 3, Figure 1: Please improve the quality of all figures. Make sure all values and wording are readable. Please use a standard size and font type for all wordings and values for all figures. Suggest using Palatino Linotype (type font), text size 9. Please check the whole manuscript (all figures) and do corrections accordingly.
Response 11:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We made uniform changes to the clarity and text of all the images and marked them in yellow. Thank you very much!
Point 4:
ORGANIC POLYMERS
- Page 4, Figure 2: Please improve the quality of all figures. Make sure all values and wording are readable. Please use a standard size and font type for all wordings and values for all figures. Suggest using Palatino Linotype (type font), text size 9. Please check the whole manuscript (all figures) and do corrections accordingly.
Response 12:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We made uniform changes to the clarity and text of all the images and marked them in yellow. Thank you very much!
- Page 4, Lines 143-148: Authors stated ‘Numerous studies…’ but no citations for this statement. Please add citations accordingly.
Response 13: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have re-cited the references to the content there and marked it in green, thank you very much!
- Page 4, Lines 162-163: Please add citation/s for this statement ‘Therefore, this type … scale in China.’ Please take note, all fact statement needs to have citation/s. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 14: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have corrected several identical errors in the paper, inserted citations, and uniformly marked them in green. Thank you very much for your good and careful advice.
- Page 4, Lines 164-167: Authors stated ‘Research data from relevant literature show….’ Without referring to any journal published. Please take note, all fact statement needs to have citation/s. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 15: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. Our sentence was intended to correspond to the data in table 1, which may have been misrepresented, and we have removed and modified it and marked it in green. Thank you very much!
- Page 4, Line 167: Suggest changing ‘many pellet workers’ to ‘many researchers’ and please add appropriate citations for this sentence.
Response 16: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have changed all the words "pellet worker" to "pellet researcher" in the text and marked them in red. Thank you very much!
- Page 5, Line 195: ‘B2O3’ should write full name and (B2O3) in a bracket. Please take note, for 1 st time appear in manuscript, should write full name and then write abbreviation/symbol in a bracket. Please check the whole manuscript and do correction accordingly.
Response 17: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have checked and modified for similar problems in the full text. Thank you very much!
- Page 6, Figure 3: Please improve quality of all figures. Make sure all values and wording are readable. Please use standard size and font type for all wordings and values at all figure. Suggest to use Palatino Linotype (type font), text size 9. Please check the whole manuscript (all figures) and do correction accordingly.
Response 18:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We made uniform changes to the clarity and text of all the images and marked them in yellow. Thank you very much!
- Page 6, Line 240: Please add citation accordingly ‘Sivrikaya and Arol [X]…’
Response 19:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have re-quoted it there. Thank you very much!
- Page 7, Line 251: There are too many places without appropriate spacing in this manuscript such as ‘Humic acids(HA)…’ which should write as ‘Humic acids (HA)…’. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 20:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have carefully checked and revised the article for similar errors. Thank you very much!
- Page 7, Figure 4: Please improve quality of all figures. Make sure all values and wording are readable. Please use standard size and font type for all wordings and values at all figure. Suggest to use Palatino Linotype (type font), text size 9. Please check the whole manuscript (all figures) and do correction accordingly.
Response 21:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We made uniform changes to the clarity and text of all the images and marked them in yellow. Thank you very much!
- Page 7, Lines 265-267: Authors stated ‘Numerous studies … increasing pH [65]…’ but only cited 1 journal? Please add appropriate citations accordingly.
Response 22: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have re-cited the references to the content there and marked it in green, thank you very much!
- Page 8, Lines 292-293: ‘Zhou, Zhang et al.[70]…’ should write as ‘Zhou et al. [70]…’. Please check the whole manuscript and do correction accordingly.
Response 23: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We checked and corrected all the similar errors in the article. thank you very much!
- Page 8, Line 296: ‘Han, Zhang et al.[71] found…’ should write as ‘Han et al.[71]…’. Suggest to write as ‘‘Han et al.[71] reported …’ because of too many ‘found’ word use in this paragraph
Response 24: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We change "found" to "reported" in this position. thank you very much!
- Page 9, Figure 5: Please improve quality of all figures. Make sure all values and wording are readable. Please use standard size and font type for all wordings and values at all figure. Suggest to use Palatino Linotype (type font), text size 9. Please check the whole manuscript (all figures) and do corrections accordingly.
Response 25:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We made uniform changes to the clarity and text of all the images and marked them in yellow. Thank you very much!
- Page 9, Lines 327-332: ‘The ligninsulfonate…. in Table 4.’ This sentence is too long. Please divide into 2 sentences and please add citations accordingly. Please take note, all fact statement needs to have citation/s. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 26:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have simplified and split the sentences of the paragraph and added references. Thank you very much!
- Page 10, Lines 360-364: ‘Guar gum is…. and textile.’ Please add citations accordingly for these statements. Please take note, all fact statement needs to have citation/s. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 27:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have corrected several identical errors in the paper, inserted citations, and uniformly marked them in green. Thank you very much for your good and careful advice.
- Page 11, Figure 6: Please improve quality of all figures. Make sure all values and wording are readable. Please use standard size and font type for all wordings and values at all figures. Suggest to use Palatino Linotype (type font), text size 9. Please check the whole manuscript (all figures) and do correction accordingly.
Response 28:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We made uniform changes to the clarity and text of all the images and marked them in yellow. Thank you very much!
- Page 11, Lines 369-373: ‘Guar gum… pellet strength.’ Please add citations accordingly for these statements. Please take note, all fact statement needs to have citation/s. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 29:Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have re-cited the references to the content there and marked it in green, thank you very much!
- Page 12, Lines 410-414: ‘CMC and PAM are … and other countries’ Please add citations accordingly for these statements. Please take note, all fact statement needs to have citation/s. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 30: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have re-cited the references to the content there and marked it in green, thank you very much!
- Page 13, Lines 444-446: ‘In recent years, …. additives.’ Please add citations accordingly for these statements. Please take note, all fact statement needs to have citation/s. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 31: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have re-cited the references to the content there and marked it in green, thank you very much!
- Page 13, Lines 448-453: ‘During the green pellet… strength.’ Please add citations accordingly for these statements. Please take note, all fact statement needs to have citation/s. Please check the whole manuscript and do corrections accordingly.
Response 32: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have re-cited the references to the content there and marked it in green, thank you very much!
- Page 13, Line 462: Suggest changing from ‘…and the reaction process is shown in (1-4).’ to ‘…and the reaction process are expressed in Equations 1 to 4 [X].’ Please add citation/s accordingly.
Response 33: Thanks for receiving your suggestions. We have made changes in that location as you suggested and have added references. Thank you very much!
- Pages 3-14, Lines 133-472: Please summarize all reviews reported at the end of every section (3.1 to 3.7) and discuss critically the research gap identified. The writing style, grammar, and language usage should be checked by a native speaker.
Response 4: Thanks for receiving your suggestions.
- Your suggestion is a very good one to show the advantages and disadvantages of the various organic binders separately. In order to represent the differences between organic binders more visually, we suggest putting the critical discussion of organic binders in each section (3.1 to 3.7) in Table 7 of the concluding section. We have added Table7 at the conclusion, in which we compare the effect of the seven organic polymers mentioned above on the strength of the pellet ore, to reflect visually the difference in performance of the various organic polymers in comparison.
- We invited Amutenya Evelina, an African student from our group, to check the grammar of our article. She is from Namibia, mainly engaged in the research and preparation of humic acid and bentonite composites, and has published two SCI papers, with great English editing and writing skills. We will work together to correct the many grammatical, linguistic, and writing style issues of the paper, thank you very much.
Thank you very much for your professional level and for carefully reviewing our paper, sincerely thank you for your valuable suggestions
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
