Decomposition Mechanism and Calcination Properties of Small-Sized Limestone at Steelmaking Temperature

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The experimental design of this paper is logical and results are reliable, the authors studied decomposition mechanism and calcination properties of small-sized limestone aiming to improve the steelmaking process. This study is innovative to some extent, but there still are some problems needing to be noticed:

Q: The advantages of using small-sized limestone in steel making process are not fully reflected in the introduction, for example, will the usage of small-sized limestone in the steel making process will be greatly reduced compared with bigger-sized limestone?

Q: Does the rapid decomposition of limestone always have a positive influence on the steelmaking process? Since the process of steelmaking requires continuous stirring of CO₂ gas in the liquid steel.

Q: Will it cost more to produce and use limestone with smaller particle size, and is there any low-cost sources of small particle limestone in actual production?

Q: The main experimental installation should be annotated in figure 2.

Q: What does the text “Qi” mean in figure 3? And fix the problems of inconsistent words, you used “Calcination time” in text, but “Calcination times” in figure 4.

Q: Why did the reaction activity decline when the conversion rate went up in Figure 10?

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

This subject regarding the microstructure and properties of limestone with particle size less than 5mm under steelmaking temperature is essential for efficient utilization of lime, and then the appropriate limestone particle size for injection was obtained. The results are interesting, and are considered to be scientific for guiding practical steelmaking operation. But the flowing questions should be considered before acceptance:

(1) For Formula (1), the expression of limestone particle conversion seems inappropriate. Please consider using the expression of "calcium carbonate conversion" or "CO₂ release rate".

(2) The article hopes to study the calcination characteristics of limestone in converter molten steel, and how to make the experiment conform to the actual production situation as much as possible?

       (3) The binding phenomenon of limestone particles with particle size less than 0.074 mm may be caused by the experimental device used in the test. In actual production, limestone will be dispersed in the gas, will it affect the selection of limestone particle size?

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx