# Sodium silicate

Water glass: sand fused with soda ash, the cheap silica source behind precipitated silica for tyres, detergents, zeolites and binders.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/

Commodity chemicals · Other inorganics · No. 11

- Single chemical
- Feedstock: Minerals and salts
- capacity about 6 Mt a year (indicative, basis: Europe 1.2 Mt, with Europe and North America about one-third and Asia about 60% of world capacity); output about 5 Mt (indicative, at about 85% utilisation)
- 0.8 t CO₂e per t
- HS 283911
 Commodity chemicals · Other inorganics · Foundation · Matter

Melt quartz sand with soda ash and you get water glass, the hidden ingredient behind fuel-saving green tyres.

Chart: Illustration: Sodium silicate

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Quartz sand and soda ash are melted at about 1,300-1,500 C into a glass, or sand is dissolved directly in hot caustic soda under pressure.

##### Three things to know

1. About 40% of European silicate use goes into precipitated silica for low-rolling-resistance tyres that cut fuel use.
2. Each tonne of ratio-3.3 glass needs about 0.40 t of soda ash, which releases about 0.17 t of CO2 before any fuel burns.
3. Asia holds about 60% of the roughly 6 Mt of world capacity, while Europe has about 1.2 Mt.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Sand and soda**Low-iron quartz sand plus soda ash
2. 2 **Furnace**Melted at 1,300-1,500 C into glass
3. 3 **Glass lumps**Cooled, sold solid or dissolved
4. 4 **Dissolving**Steamed in autoclaves to thick solutions
5. 5 **Conversion**Silica for tyres, zeolites, detergents, binders
 Covered in [From building blocks to plastics, fibres and detergentsChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/building-blocks-to-polymers/)

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## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/correlation/index.md)
- [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/routes/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/production/index.md)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/movement/index.md)
- [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/regulation/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/links/index.md)