Review Reports

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper reports an interesting approach to model complex metallurgical systems. Nevertheless, an important improvement must be done to the manuscript so it can be published.

Please follow many short comments and other suggestions in the attached file.

You must note that as the article is, the contribution of the calculation algorithm considering local equilibria in an out-of-equilibrium system is not appreciated. The results obtained could be obtained using a global equilibrium calculation with some commercial software.

To improve the manuscript is necessary to present dynamic aspects of the simulations, the value of this technique. At the same time, it is strongly suggested that a discussion on the results must include the oxygen potential as a parameter.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment, Thank you!

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript entitled “The Distribution Behavior of Elements during the Top-Blown Smelting Process of Electronic waste” authored by  Xiaochun Wen, Jinliang Wang, and Houqing Wang presents an interesting work of research with a good collection of data, but unfortunately, it misses the very fundamentals of the subject addressing the kinetics of the process and the factors influencing the speed of individual stages of the process. The relevant points are discussed below:

1. The authors analyze the processing of electronic waste with a strictly defined chemical composition. Due to the fact that in practice such a material has a very diverse content of both metals and the organic phase, consider supplementing the analysis with materials of other compositions.
2. Line 151, Table 1. The copper content is 19.42 or 19.43 wt%?
3. Please also discuss what influence the increased content of organic parts in electronic waste may have on the tested process, e.g. whether it has an impact on the temperature of the process.
4. More attention should be paid to the description of the composition of the gas and dust phases formed in the discussed process, especially taking into account the possibility of the formation of chemical compounds that hinder the process of utilization of these gases and dust removal.
5. Were the measurement results published? If so, insert references to the literature, if not then complete the manuscript with the description of the measurement method. 

Author Response

Please see the attachment, Thank you!

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Unfortunately, the new version of the manuscript did not answer previous suggestions. Please refer to the first file that I sent and well as the new one.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear reviewers,

We would like to thank you for your kind suggestions and constructive comments, especially for your recognition of our article submitted to Metals (metals-1350713). Those comments are valuable and helpful for improving our paper. According to the reviewers’ comments, we have made corrections to all the comments in the manuscript carefully. In this revised version, changes to our manuscript within the document were all highlighted by using red-colored text. Please see the attachment [Revised Manuscript (metals-1350713)], We hope the revision could reach the requirements of Metals. Thank you!

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 3

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript has been corrected and the suggestions considered.