Coarsening Mechanisms of CaS Inclusions in Ca-Treated Steels

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The coarsening mechanisms of CaS inclusions in liquid steel were investigated by analyzing inclusions in experimental and industrial samples. The coarsening kinetics was analyzed and discussed sufficiently. This paper was well organized, and the research work is meaningful. Please keep up the good work!

Author Response

Please see the attachment. It includes the replies to comments and the manuscript revised.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript introduces interesting results about growth of CaS inclusions in steelmaking conditions. Authors have made a lot of computational work to analyze coarsening mechanisms of CaS inclusions, which can help researchers have deeper understanding about the formation of CaS inclusions. There are some suggestions to help you improved your paper in the following.

1. The typical morphology of CaS inclusions in this paper should be stated, which is important to determine their sizes.
2. CaS inclusions often occur in combination with Ca-containing oxides. In this study, are there more pure CaS inclusions or complex CaO-Al₂O₃-CaS inclusions? How do you determine the sizes of complex CaS inclusions?
3. Ca reacts with both O and S. How do you consider the influence of O content on the growth of CaS inclusions in this study?
4. References [16] is your unpublished paper, and it needs to be modified.
5. These pin-shaped samples were cooled in air, and the rest of the experimental steel was cooled inside the furnace at a rate of 10 K/min. How do you consider the segregation of Ca and S elements during solidification?

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment. It includes the replies to comments and the manuscript revised.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

1. Please describe the inclusion size measure method in detail.
2. Have you considered that calcium sulfide observed in this study can form during solidification？
3. Conclusion 1） and 2） of this paper are the same, please reconsider.

Author Response

Please see the attachment. It includes replies to all comments and the revised manuscript.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

The article requires a few explanations that should be included in the text:

1. Equations should not be placed in the text (example equation 1). The problem affects the entire text.
2. The full name of the PSD, PBE should be provided.
3. In the text, reactions of formation of MnS, the equilibrium constant of the reaction and the Gibbs energy should be given. What was the oxygen content before the addition of Ca and after the addition?
   4. The system of Ca-O-S and Ca-O-S-Mn, CaO-Al-Mn-O-S and the reaction products should be discussed in detail.
   5. What energy of mixing were adopted for turbulent collisions.
   6. Sulfur distribution between Mn and Ca - please explain using diffusion coefficients
   7. SEM tests of samples confirming the presence of CaS and other inclusions, should be included in the work.

Author Response

Please see the attachment. It includes the replies to comments and the manuscript revised.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf