Industrial steam traps by Armstrong International (steam traps)

Product Description

Armstrong International is an American manufacturer specializing in steam system products, with a product line that has historically centered on steam traps, valves, and fluid handling components used across heavy industrial settings. The company has operated for decades as a prominent supplier to industries that rely on steam and condensate management systems, including petrochemical refining, power generation, paper and pulp processing, and large-scale manufacturing.

According to asbestos litigation records, industrial steam traps sold under the Armstrong International (steam traps) name were assembled with asbestos-bearing internal sealing materials throughout the period American industry treated asbestos as the default high-temperature sealant. The product line was specified into refineries, power generation facilities, chemical plants, shipyards, paper mills, and military installations — environments where the equipment was expected to operate continuously under high pressure, elevated temperature, or corrosive process fluids. The same operating envelope that made these products attractive to industrial buyers also made asbestos-based packing, gaskets, and insulation the routine sealing solution well into the late 1970s.

Asbestos Content

Court filings document allegations that industrial steam traps manufactured by Armstrong International (steam traps) routinely incorporated asbestos in three structural roles common to industrial flow-control equipment of the era:

Braided and rope packing — Compressed chrysotile packing rings were installed around rotating shafts and valve stems to seal against process leakage. Plaintiffs alleged that this packing was specified by the manufacturer’s own service literature and supplied by third-party packing houses such as Garlock and John Crane, but installed and disturbed during routine maintenance on Armstrong International (steam traps) equipment.

Compressed asbestos sheet gaskets — Flange gaskets, bonnet gaskets, and casing gaskets were cut from asbestos-containing sheet material. Court filings document that mechanics regularly scraped these gaskets free of mating surfaces during overhaul, generating respirable fiber concentrations in the breathing zone.

External thermal insulation — Where the equipment ran on steam, hot oil, or high-temperature process fluid, insulators wrapped casings and adjacent piping in asbestos block, blanket, or magnesia insulation. Although typically supplied by separate insulation contractors rather than the equipment manufacturer, plaintiffs alleged that Armstrong International (steam traps) knew or had reason to know that asbestos insulation would be applied to its products in normal service.

The asbestos in these components was not unique to Armstrong International (steam traps); compressed asbestos sheet, braided packing, and magnesia insulation were industry-standard well into the 1970s. The relevance of the product to litigation lies in the volume of industrial steam traps installed across American industrial worksites and the frequency with which their packing, gaskets, and insulation were disturbed during ordinary maintenance work.

How Workers Were Exposed

Workers most likely to have encountered asbestos through Armstrong International (steam traps) industrial steam traps include those whose trades brought them into routine maintenance contact with the equipment:

  • Pipefitters and steamfitters who installed, repaired, and repacked flow control equipment across industrial steam, process, and utility systems.
  • Boilermakers assembling and overhauling pressure systems where Armstrong International (steam traps) equipment was tied into boilers, headers, and steam drums.
  • Machinists and millwrights who tore down, cleaned, and reassembled equipment during scheduled outages — operations that frequently involved scraping gasket residue from flanges and removing degraded packing from stuffing boxes.
  • Refinery and chemical-plant workers servicing process pumps, control valves, and relief assemblies during turnarounds.
  • Power-plant maintenance crews working on feedwater, condensate, and main-steam piping at coal-fired, oil-fired, and nuclear stations.
  • Shipyard workers — including Navy yard pipefitters, machinists, and shipfitters — who installed and overhauled Armstrong International (steam traps) equipment in shipboard engineering spaces.

Court filings document that bystander and take-home pathways were also common. Workers who did not directly handle Armstrong International (steam traps) equipment but who shared confined engine rooms, valve galleries, or boiler houses with those who did were alleged to have inhaled the same airborne fibers. Family members were exposed through fibers carried home on contaminated work clothing — a pathway recognized in occupational medicine and asbestos litigation as take-home or secondary exposure.

The latency period for asbestos-related diseases — mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, and pleural disease — ranges from roughly ten to fifty years between initial exposure and diagnosis. Workers exposed through Armstrong International (steam traps) industrial steam traps during the 1940s through the early 1980s may only now be receiving diagnoses tied to that occupational history.

The legal status of claims involving Armstrong International (steam traps) industrial steam traps is summarized on the manufacturer page linked above. Where a Armstrong International (steam traps) corporate entity has established an asbestos bankruptcy trust under Section 524(g), trust claims may be filed in parallel with civil litigation against other defendants whose products contributed to the same exposure history. Where no trust exists, claims are pursued through the civil court system. Statute-of-limitations rules vary by state and disease type, and the limitations clock generally begins at the time of diagnosis rather than the time of exposure.

Individuals who worked with or around Armstrong International (steam traps) equipment and have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease should preserve documentation of employment history, jobsites, and product identification, and consult an attorney experienced in asbestos claims promptly after diagnosis.

Documented Product Identification

The following details are drawn from public asbestos litigation records, manufacturer catalog pages, technical manuals, and corporate history materials. Each item reflects the product as documented in those sources.

Corporate context: Formerly known as Armstrong Machine Works in the 1930’s. Currently operates as Armstrong International Inc. with headquarters in Three Rivers, MI.

Documented asbestos components: gaskets.

Documented product lines:

  • Steam Traps. Steam traps and other associated equipment used in steam systems. — asbestos components: gaskets.

Asbestos gaskets were used as seals in Armstrong steam traps. Further investigation may be needed for comprehensive product identification.