Iron produced directly from a blast furnace is

Answer Details

Iron is extracted from its ore in a blast furnace. The iron that comes directly out of the blast furnace is called pig iron. It contains about 3-4% carbon along with smaller amounts of impurities such as silicon, manganese, phosphorus, and sulphur.

Pig iron is brittle due to its high carbon content and is not suitable for most engineering applications in its raw form. It must be further processed to produce more useful forms of iron and steel:

• Cast iron is produced by remelting pig iron and allowing it to cool in moulds. It still has a relatively high carbon content (2-4%) but has improved properties for casting.
• Wrought iron is nearly pure iron (less than 0.1% carbon) produced by removing most of the carbon and impurities from pig iron. It is soft, malleable, and resistant to corrosion.
• Carbon steel is produced by carefully controlling the carbon content of iron (0.1-1.5%) to achieve specific mechanical properties.

The iron that comes directly from the blast furnace, before any further refining, is pig iron.