Product Description
Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CB&I) supplied fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) regenerator and reactor vessels to U.S. refineries with asbestos-woven fabric expansion joints at the regenerator-to-cyclone and reactor-overhead transitions and with asbestos-block hot-side lagging on the exterior shell. The fabric expansion joints allegedly absorbed thermal growth on the hot flue-gas path, and the asbestos-block lagging allegedly held skin temperatures down on the high-temperature vessel walls.
Plaintiffs alleged that CB&I FCC regenerator and reactor vessels remained in service across catalytic cracking units through the 1940s–1980s, requiring periodic turnaround tear-out and replacement of the asbestos-fabric expansion joints and asbestos-block lagging as part of scheduled TAR cycles.
Workers Exposed
Plaintiffs allegedly exposed to CB&I FCC regenerator and reactor vessel asbestos-containing components include:
- Refinery boilermakers and vessel welders performing FCC regenerator and reactor internals hot-work and turnaround rebuilds
- Refinery insulators stripping and re-lagging hot-side asbestos block on regenerator and reactor shells
- Refinery pipefitters and steamfitters tying in overhead transfer lines and cyclone dip legs
- Refinery turnaround (TAR) contractors and shutdown crews cutting out spent asbestos-fabric expansion joints
- Refinery outside operators and process operators working around hot regenerator flue-gas paths
- Refinery millwrights and mechanical maintenance
- Refinery bricklayers and refractory masons rebuilding regenerator refractory-lined internals