Scientifically speaking, liquid glass is a water-alkali solution of sodium and potassium silicates. The formula, however, does not allow the uninitiated in chemistry or physics to readily understand where the produce can be used in daily life.
The issues of product differences and the choice of the best product are more interesting to the buyer (a businessman, a manufacturer etc) than to laboratory staff.
In their search the former often deal not only with understanding of the terminology (a manager or a director of a production company must know about his production processes), but to a larger degree with alternative use of materials, fuel and equipment, as well as diversification of supplies and the possibility to reduce costs.
Liquid glass is a widely accepted unique material which can be used in many areas due to its versatility. It is most widely used in construction, but not only. Liquid glass can be used for gluing and binding of various construction materials; improving water-resistance of foundations, since it suffers no ill effects from freezing; for production of fire and acid proof silicate products; for gluing of glass and chinaware, gluing and saturation of paper, cardboard; saturation of wood or fabric to make them denser and fire-proof; production of silicate paints; production of welding electrodes; floatation refining of ore; soap, fat, textile, paper production, engineering, metal casting; it can even be used to protect damaged trees.
On customer order, liquid glass producers can make the product with any number of properties and performance characteristics. For instance, the most known and used in the modern construction material market is the sodium liquid glass.
However, more and more manufacturers come to the idea of higher efficiency of keeping the production cycle entirely internal. This allows not only to save on certain costs but also to eliminate the dependence on suppliers and intermediaries and to solve the issue of quality.
A proven liquid component mixing technology, which conquered the market several years ago, with the qualification and experience of the specialists, allows for high quality production of liquid glass.
The buyers of equipment for liquid glass production to make it locally instead of purchasing externally, are both large companies and facilities and smaller producers of construction materials etc.
The production of liquid glass on a large scale is performed by solution of silicate blocks in autoclaves, stationary or rotary. A modern facility which uses relatively small amounts of liquid glass, can use liquid mixing units to make it. Solution of silica containing components in alkali allows to mix water and additives with such solution using this mixing equipment. Precise portioning and high production rate facilitate high quality production of liquid glass in the required proportion.
Using blending units allows to make liquid glass without the use of autoclaves, simplifying the process and reducing labor and energy costs.
Pure liquid glass is rarely used. So the blending units allow to make other component or finished product for construction material stores: base coats, waterproofing materials, glue, fireproofing solutions. The production of liquid glass is very rarely set up at specialized facilities which then become centralized suppliers of the product to consumers. Most of liquid glass is produced by facilities which use this component in their own processes.