Although the manufacture of soluble glass does not strictly belong to the
glass maker's art, yet it is an allied process to that of manufacturing
glass. Of late soluble glass has been used with good effect as a
preservative coating for stones, a fire-proofing solution for wood and
textile fabrics. Very thin gauze dipped in a solution of silicate of
potash diluted with water, and dried, burns without flame, blackens, and
carbonizes as if it were heated in a retort without contact of air. As a
fire-proofing material it would be excellent were it not that the
alkaline reaction of this glass very often changes the coloring matters
of paintings and textile fabrics. Since soluble glass always remains
somewhat deliquescent, even though the fabrics may have been thoroughly
dried, the moisture of the atmosphere is attracted, and the goods remain
damp. This is the reason why its use has been abandoned for preserving
theater decorations and wearing apparel. Another application of soluble
glass has been made by surgeons for forming a protecting coat of silicate
around broken limbs as a substitute for plaster, starch, or dextrine.
The only use where soluble glass has met with success is in the
preservation of porous stones, building materials, paintings in
distemper, and painting on glass. Before we describe these applications,
we will give the processes used in making soluble glass.
The following ingredients are heated in a reverberatory furnace until
fusion becomes quieted: 1,260 pounds white sand, 660 pounds potash of
78°. This will produce 1,690 pounds of transparent, homogeneous glass,
with a slight tinge of amber. This glass is but little soluble in hot
water. To dissolve it, the broken fragments are introduced into a iron
digester charged with a sufficient quantity of water, at a high pressure,
to make a solution marking 33° to 35° Baume. Distilled or rain water
should be used, as the calcareous salts contained in ordinary water would
produce insoluble salts of lime, which would render the solution turbid
and opalescent; this solution contains silica and potash combined
together in the proportion of 70 to 30.
Silicate of soda is made with 180 parts of sand, 100 parts carbonate of
soda (0.91), and is to be melted in the same manner as indicated
previously.
Soluble glass may also be prepared by the following method: A mixture of
sand with a solution of caustic potash or soda is introduced into an iron
boiler, under 5 or 6 atmospheres of pressure, and heated for a few hours.
The iron boiler contains an agitator, which is occasionally operated
during the melting. The liquid is allowed to cool until it reaches 212°,
and is drawn out after it has been allowed to clear by settling; it is
then concentrated until it reaches a density of 1.25, or it may be
evaporated to dryness in an iron kettle. The metal is not affected by
alkaline liquors.
The glass is soluble in boiling water; cold water dissolves but little of
it. The solution is decomposed by all acids, even by carbonic acid.
Soluble glass is apparently coagulated by the addition of an alkaline
salt; mixed with powdered matters upon which alkalies have no effect, it
becomes sticky and agglutinative, a sort of mineral glue.
To apply soluble glass for the preservation of buildings and monuments of
porous materials, take a solution of silicate of potash of 35° Baume,
dilute it with twice its weight of water, paint with a brush, or inject
with a pump; give several coats. Experience has shown that three coats
applied on three successive days are sufficient to preserve the materials
indefinitely, at a cost of about 15 cents per square yard. When applied
upon old materials, it is necessary to wash them thoroughly with water.
The degree of concentration of the solutions to be used varies with the
materials. For hard stones, such as sand and free stones, rock, etc., the
solution should mark 7° to 9° Baume; for soft stones with coarse grit, 5°
to 7°; for calcareous stones of soft texture, 6° to 7°. The last coating
should always be applied with a more dilute solution of 3° to 4° only.
Authorities are divided upon the successful results of the preservation
of stone by silicates. Some claim in the affirmative that the protection
is permanent, while others assert that with time and the humidity of the
atmosphere the beneficial effects gradually disappear. It might be worth
while to experiment upon some of the porous sandstones, which, under the
extreme influence of our climate, rapidly deteriorate; such, for
instance, as the Connecticut sandstone, so popular at one time as a
building material, but which is now generally discarded, owing to its
tendency to crumble to pieces when exposed to the weather even for a few
years.
Soluble glass has also been used in Germany to a great extent for mural
painting, known as stereochromy. The process consists in first laying a
ground with a lime water; when this is thoroughly dry, it is soaked with
a solution of silicate of soda. When this has completely solidified, the
upper coating is applied to the thickness of about one-sixteenth of an
inch, and should be put on very evenly. It is then rubbed with fine
sandstone to roughen the surface. When thoroughly dry, the colors are
applied with water; the wall is also frequently sprinkled with water. The
colors are now set by using a mixture of silicate of potash completely
saturated with silica, with a basic silicate of soda (a flint liquor with
soda base, obtained by melting 2 parts sand with 3 parts of carbonate of
soda). As the colors applied do not stand the action of the brush, the
soluble glass is projected against the wall by means of a spray. After a
few days the walls should be washed with alcohol to remove the dust and
alkali liberated.
The colors used for this style of painting are zinc white, green oxide
of chrome, cobalt green, chromate of lead, colcothar, ochers, and
ultramarine.
Soluble glass has also been used in the manufacture of soaps made with
palm and cocoanut oil; this body renders them more alkaline and harder.
Interesting experiments have been made with soluble glass for coloring
corals and shells. By plunging silicated shells into hot solutions of
salts of chrome, nickel, cobalt, or copper, beautiful dyes in yellow,
green, and blue are produced. Here seems to be a field for further
application of this discovery.
Soluble glass has also been applied to painting on glass in imitation of
glass staining. By using sulphate of baryta, ultramarine, oxide of
chrome, etc., mixed with silicate of potash, fast colors are obtained
similar to the semi-transparent colors of painted windows. By this means
a variety of cheap painted glass may be made. Should these colors be
fired in a furnace, enameled surfaces would be produced. As a substitute
for albumen for fixing colors in calico printing, soluble glass has been
used with a certain degree of success; also as a sizing for thread
previous to weaving textile fabrics. Thus it would seem that this
substance has been used for many purposes, but since its application does
not seem to have been extended to any great degree, the defects here
pointed out in its use as a fire-proofing material perhaps also exist, to
a certain degree, in its other applications. In painting upon glass, for
instance, it is asserted that the brilliancy and finish of ordinary
vitrified colors cannot be obtained.--_Glassware Reporter._
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