Sodium silicates are mostly used for the production of detergents. Moreover, they are needed in big volumes as basic product for the manufacture of silicic acid as additives for rubbers and plastics and cracking catalysts for the petro-chemical industry. They are also used for the synthesis of zeoliths, kieselgels and brines, for glues, as binding agent for aqueous painting colours, for ore flotations, in ceramic, cement and foundry industries, as flocculator for water treatment and for the chemical solidification of soils.