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Did you work with Ingersoll-Rand Centac centrifugal air compressor asbestos-packed shaft seals and casing gaskets? According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, it allegedly contained asbestos. Here is what it was, who was exposed, and who is responsible. Ingersoll-Rand Centac centrifugal air compressor asbestos-packed shaft seals and casing gaskets, sold from the 1950s until the 1980s. Ingersoll-Rand Centac multi-stage centrifugal air compressors allegedly used braided asbestos shaft packing at gland seals and compressed asbestos sheet gaskets at casing splits, intercooler flanges, and diffuser joints across refineries, chemical plants, steel mills, and heavy industry. Braided asbestos shaft packing and compressed asbestos sheet gaskets allegedly installed at Ingersoll-Rand Centac centrifugal compressor shaft-seal glands, inter-stage casing joints, intercooler flanges, and diffuser split lines. Industrial mechanics, millwrights, and pipefitters allegedly repacked the shaft glands and scraped/re-installed casing gaskets during scheduled compressor overhauls, releasing dry chrysotile fibers into plant air compressor rooms. Workers allegedly exposed around this product included Industrial Mechanics, Millwrights, Pipefitters, and Machinists. Asbestos claims are brought against the companies that made the products. If you worked with or around Ingersoll-Rand Centac centrifugal air compressor asbestos-packed shaft seals and casing gaskets and were later diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or another asbestos-related disease, you may have a legal claim against the manufacturer. This is educational information from an independent publisher — not a law firm — and is not legal advice.
Product Description
The Ingersoll-Rand Centac was a family of multi-stage, integrally-geared centrifugal air compressors widely installed as plant-air and process-air machines at refineries, petrochemical complexes, steel mills, glass plants, and general heavy industry from the 1950s through the 1980s. Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Centac units were originally packed with braided asbestos rope at the shaft-seal glands and sealed with compressed asbestos sheet gaskets at inter-stage casing joints, intercooler flanges, diffuser split lines, and cover bosses.
Every scheduled Centac overhaul allegedly required the shaft glands to be repacked — cutting fresh rings of asbestos rope packing from bulk stock and driving them into the gland — and every casing joint to have its old asbestos gasket scraped from the mating surface with knives and wire brushes before a fresh gasket was cut and installed. Both operations generated dry asbestos-fiber debris in the compressor room.
Workers Exposed
- Industrial mechanics performing Centac scheduled overhauls, gland repacks, and gasket renewals at refineries, chemical plants, and steel mills.
- Millwrights rigging Centac casings, gears, and intercoolers during major overhauls.
- Pipefitters (UA) breaking discharge, intercooler, and cooling-water piping into Centac units.
- Machinists rebuilding Centac impellers, seals, and bearings at shop and field.
- Instrument fitters working the associated control panels and gauge lines during compressor outages.
Bystanders in the compressor building could be exposed to airborne fibers released by packing removal, gasket scraping, and sweep-up of debris.