Pig Iron

Pig Iron is raw iron, the immediate product of smelting iron ore with coke and limestone in blast furnace. Pig Iron has a very high carbon content, typically 3.5%, which makes it very brittle and not useful directly as material except for limited application. Merchant pig iron comprises three main types: BASIC PIG IRON, used mainly in electric arc steelmaking, HAEMATITE PIG IRON [also known as Foundry Pig Iron], used in mainly in the manufacture of grey iron castings in cupola furnaces, and NODULAR PIG IRON, used in the manufacture of ductile [also known as nodular or spheroidal graphite - SG] iron castings. Pig iron contains at least 92% Fe. Other constituents are typically: The vast majority of PIG IRON is produced and consumed within integrated steel mill complexes. In this context the term �pig iron� is something of a misnomer: within integrated steel mills, blast furnace iron - hot metal - is transferred directly to the steel plant in liquid form. The term �pig iron� arose from the old method of casting blast furnace iron into moulds arranged in sand beds such that they could be fed from a common runner. The group of moulds resembled a litter of sucking pigs, the ingots being called �pigs� and the runner the �sow.�