Foundry Pig Iron

PIG IRON & SKULLSMSPL has set up Pig Iron manufacturing plant using blast furnace with an installed capacity of 54,000 TPA. Basic raw iron is called pig iron because it's produced in the form of chunky molded blocks known as pigs. Pig iron is made by heating an iron ore (rich in iron oxide) in a blast furnace. The iron ore reacts chemically with coke (a carbon-rich form of coal) and limestone. The coke removes the oxygen from the iron oxide (in a chemical process called reduction), leaving behind a relatively pure liquid iron, while the limestone helps to remove the other parts of the rocky ore (including clay, sand, and small stones), which form a waste slurry known as slag. The iron made in a blast furnace is an alloy containing about 90-95 percent iron, 3-4 percent carbon, and traces of other elements such as silicon, manganese, and phosphorus, depending on the ore used. Pig iron is much harder than 100 percent pure iron, but still too weak for most everyday purposes.
BILLET, INGOT & BLOOMS &
SMSPL is proposing to set up BILLET & INGOT manufacturing plant using 20 tons capacity of AOD Furnace with same installed capacity of existing Blast Furnace. Input Raw Materials and chemical composition will be as advised by the industrial consultant Dr. Amin Y. Degani of M/s Tannay project consultancy, Mumbai. By setting up an AOD plant SSPL will save more than 60% of power consumption by using oxygen plant.
USES AND APPLICATION
Pig iron, Skull, Billets, Ingots are an intermediate product of smelting iron with coke and fluxes like limestone. It contains approximately 92 per cent iron and about 3.5-4.5 per cent carbon. The balance is largely silicon and manganese with a small percentage of phosphorus, sulphur and other impurities. High carbon content makes it very brittle; hence it is not directly used as a material except in a few applications.
Pig iron Billts and Ingots are of two grades - basic grade and foundry grade. Basic grade product is used by electric arc furnaces and induction furnaces for production of steel, whereas foundry grade product is used in the foundry industry for manufacturing of castings and forgings.
The difference in the two varieties of product of Pig Iron basic grade and foundry grade is primarily the silicon content, which is higher in the foundry grade product as compared to basic grade.