The most common element in the earth after oxygen is silica. Silica is present in rocks as silicate minerals combined with oxide and metals. As the rocks containing silica are broken down, silica minerals are mixed into natural waters. The presence of silica in industrial water is undesirable. Because silica, especially high pressure steam turbines cause the accumulation of pure silica. If the silica concentration is not closely monitored, especially in power plants, the power plant does not operate efficiently and starts to malfunction at short intervals. This results in costly repairs. Therefore, silica measurements should be made. Even if the amount of silica in water is extremely low, when the silica heats up into steam, it accumulates in the turbines in a very short time. In this case, silica deposits affect the rotation of the turbines, resulting in reduced turbine capacity and loss of efficiency. Repairs are both costly and cause the plant to stop during the repair.

Based on the authorization of national or international accreditation organizations, silica measurements are also performed in the laboratories providing test, measurement and analysis services within the framework of indoor measurements. During these tests, measurements and analyzes, laboratories must comply with the standards of TS EN ISO / IEC 17025 General Requirements for the Competence of the Testing and Calibration Laboratories.

In addition, laboratories comply with current legal regulations and standards published by domestic and foreign organizations. The most commonly used standards are:

• HSE MDHS 101 Crystalline Silica in Respirable Airborne Dusts
• NIOSH 7601, 2003 Silica, Crystalline, by Vis (Silica Crystals)

At the same time, laboratories must have state-of-the-art testing and measuring tools and an experienced and trained staff to ensure fast, reliable and quality results.