Video Transcript
What is the name of the iron first produced by a blast furnace?
A blast furnace is used to extract iron from iron ore. The iron ore as well as coke and limestone are added to the top of the blast furnace. Impurities from the iron ore are removed, and the iron ore is reduced to molten iron. The molten iron trickles to the bottom of the tower, and it is removed from the blast furnace. The iron that is first produced by the blast furnace tends to be quite brittle as it contains two to five percent carbon and other impurities. One of the byproducts of the process, slag, is also regularly removed from the furnace.
The molten iron produced by the furnace can be further processed to form steel. Alternatively, it can be quickly cast into molds where it is referred to as cast iron. Additionally, an iron alloy with a low carbon content can be formed. This is called wrought iron. The molten iron itself is known by another name. It is also called pig iron, as historically, iron was cast into pellets which resemble piglets suckling milk from a sow.
So, the answer to the question “What is the name of the iron first produced by a blast furnace?” is pig iron.
