optimus Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Not heard of this in relation to pyro, but it's amazing stuff. Anyone heard of it or know of a source? This is "carbon in pig iron" as described on the label, 4% carbon, makes crazy branching sparks much better than other iron powder / filings I have. And just look at it - what's with the purple flakes and hollow spheres? http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5574803890_26842db905_z.jpg High-res here: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Thats sponge iron powder, pig iron is cast into ingots off a main runner thus called pigs. Sponge iron is found mainly in steel mills and China is currently the only place that it is being made for import. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richtee Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Crap... kinda looks like my corned beef cure mix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
optimus Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Thats sponge iron powder, pig iron is cast into ingots off a main runner thus called pigs. Sponge iron is found mainly in steel mills and China is currently the only place that it is being made for import. You sure about that? It says pig iron on the jar and it's from a lab chemical supplier (I got it as part of a clearance so that's all I know). Found the picture below for sponge Iron and it doesn't look the same atall. This stuff is a mixture of spheres and flake - doesn't really look like sponge... http://www.spongeironplants.com/turnkey-sponge-iron-plants.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 All I can tell you is that pig iron is an ingot called a pig, it is high in carbon and is the base material for steel and iron works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peret Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 As Dagabu says. It's raw iron produced from ore. You put a few tons of iron ore (oxide) in a blast furnace with a few tons of coke (carbon) and limestone or some other rock (flux), light it, and blow hot air through it until the carbon reduces the iron oxide and the molten iron collects at the bottom, dissolving as much carbon as it can hold on the way. The limestone combines with other impurities and floats molten on top. Then you tap the bottom of the furnace and the raw iron runs out into molds. In the past it was cast in sand into long rows of ingots that looked like piglets suckling, hence the name. The flux solidifies at a much higher temperature than the iron, floats on top and is raked off manually. What's pictured above appears to be droplets splashed out by steam explosions as the iron encounters some damp in the molds or sand. I don't know what the purple flakes are, but if this was a test I'd guess they are fragments of solidified flux ceramic that were spat out with the iron, stained with some kind of manganese compound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 High carbon iron or steel WILL give the best sparks, and pig iron has the most carbon of any. It's quite normal in the metalurgical lab to have prepared samples of each alloy, so that production batches an be compared by wet analysis, I used to do this for my job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldguy Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 (edited) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_iron (Pig iron) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_reduced_iron (Sponge iron) To make sponge iron, ore is not smelted. It is mixed with pulverized coal (natural gas can also be used) and coke, then fed to a large rotary kiln. When the kiln is heated to 1,800°F., the powdered coal first robs the ore (iron oxide) of its oxygen, then turns into gas, leaving fairly pure iron granules which have a spongy texture. This stuff can then be fed to the steel furnaces. Edited March 31, 2011 by oldguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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