Cooling Equipment — Asbestos Exposure Crosswalk

What This Equipment Is

Cooling equipment is the broad category of industrial heat-rejection and refrigeration systems that move waste heat from a process or product to the atmosphere or to a secondary refrigerant loop. Industrial facilities rely on cooling equipment for:

• Power plant condenser cooling — steam turbine exhaust heat rejection
• Refinery and chemical-plant process cooling — heat exchangers, compressor aftercoolers, reactor cooling
• Food, beverage, and brewing refrigeration — wort cooling, fermentation control, ammonia condensers
• HVAC chiller plants — hospital, university, and large commercial cooling
• Steel mill and metals cooling — water-cooled cooling beds, intercoolers
• Naval and shipboard cooling — fresh-water heat exchangers, brine chillers

From roughly the 1950s through the late 1970s, cooling equipment was specified with asbestos-containing components in fill packing, drift eliminators, casing panels, gaskets, and connected pipe insulation.

Specific Cooling Equipment Types

This page is the umbrella reference. For detail on specific equipment types:

• Cooling Towers — induced/forced-draft evaporative cooling
• Industrial Chillers — mechanical and absorption chillers
• Brine Chillers — secondary-refrigerant low-temperature cooling
• Wort Coolers — brewery wort and food-process heat exchangers
• Heat Exchangers — closely related shell-and-tube cooling

Asbestos Products Historically Used in Cooling Equipment

Manufacturers Named in Cooling-Equipment Litigation

Public asbestos litigation records identify these companies in cases involving industrial cooling equipment:

Cooling tower manufacturers:

• Marley Cooling Tower Company
• Baltimore Aircoil Company (BAC)
• The Pritchard Corporation
• Foster Wheeler (process cooling)

Chiller manufacturers:

• Carrier Corporation
• York International
• Trane (American Standard)
• Westinghouse — large absorption chillers

Insulation and gaskets on connected piping:

• Johns-Manville
• Owens-Corning / Fibreboard
• Pittsburgh Corning
• Garlock Sealing Technologies — gaskets and packing
• Armstrong World Industries

Trust Funds That May Apply

• Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust
• Owens-Corning / Fibreboard Asbestos Personal Injury Trust
• Pittsburgh Corning Corporation Asbestos PI Trust
• Eagle-Picher Industries Personal Injury Settlement Trust
• Armstrong World Industries Asbestos PI Settlement Trust

See full trust-fund directory →

Trades Most Exposed at Cooling Equipment

• Refrigeration mechanics & HVAC technicians — primary trades for chiller installation and maintenance
• Pipefitters & Steamfitters — chilled-water, condenser-water, and brine line work
• Heat & Frost Insulators — insulation of chiller barrels and refrigerant piping
• Sheet metal workers — cooling tower casing and ductwork
• Maintenance mechanics — fill-pack replacement, drift-eliminator service
• Electricians — fan motor and control work on cooling towers and chillers

Cooling-tower fill-pack and drift-eliminator replacement work — typically done during seasonal outages — historically produced concentrated airborne fiber from the asbestos-cement components.

Jobsites in the Network Documenting Cooling Equipment

• Anheuser-Busch Brewery — St. Louis, Missouri — ammonia condensers and process cooling
• Power plant facilities across the network — utility cooling towers
• Hospital cooling plants — chilled-water systems in major hospital facilities
• Refinery and chemical-plant cooling — process heat-rejection systems

Compiled from publicly filed asbestos litigation records, EPA NESHAP filings, state-DNR records, and industry-publication histories. Product identifications and company references reflect what has been alleged or documented in publicly filed litigation. This page does not constitute a finding of liability against any company. This information is not legal advice; consult a licensed attorney about your specific situation.