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Did you work with Universal Oil Products (UOP) HF and sulfuric-acid alkylation unit process-piping flange gaskets, allegedly specified as compressed asbestos fiber (CAF) sheet gaskets and asbestos-filled spiral-wound rings for high-temperature, corrosive-service flange joints in isostripper, deisobutanizer, and settler vessels? According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, it allegedly contained asbestos. Here is what it was, who was exposed, and who is responsible. Universal Oil Products (UOP) HF and sulfuric-acid alkylation unit process-piping flange gaskets, allegedly specified as compressed asbestos fiber (CAF) sheet gaskets and asbestos-filled spiral-wound rings for high-temperature, corrosive-service flange joints in isostripper, deisobutanizer, and settler vessels, sold from the 1940s until mid the 1980s. Plaintiffs allegedly identified UOP-specified alkylation-unit flange gaskets as asbestos-containing in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation. Alleged chrysotile-reinforced CAF sheet gaskets and asbestos-filled spiral-wound flange gaskets specified on UOP alkylation unit process piping — isostripper reboiler flanges, deisobutanizer column head flanges, HF settler manways, and heat-exchanger channel flanges. Released as friable fiber when gaskets were scraped, chiseled, or wire-brushed off raised-face flanges during turnaround and unit tear-down by refinery boilermakers and pipefitters. Workers allegedly exposed around this product included Refinery Pipefitters, Boilermakers, Refinery Millwrights, and Refinery Insulators. Asbestos claims are brought against the companies that made the products. If you worked with or around Universal Oil Products (UOP) HF and sulfuric-acid alkylation unit process-piping flange gaskets, allegedly specified as compressed asbestos fiber (CAF) sheet gaskets and asbestos-filled spiral-wound rings for high-temperature, corrosive-service flange joints in isostripper, deisobutanizer, and settler vessels 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
Universal Oil Products (UOP; Des Plaines, IL) allegedly licensed and engineered the two dominant refinery alkylation technologies of the mid-twentieth century — hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation and sulfuric acid alkylation — to produce high-octane gasoline blendstock. Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that UOP’s process-flow-diagram and materials-of-construction specifications for alkylation units called for compressed asbestos fiber (CAF) sheet gaskets and asbestos-filled spiral-wound gaskets at the raised-face flange joints throughout the unit — including isostripper reboiler channel flanges, deisobutanizer column head flanges, HF settler manways, and shell-and-tube heat-exchanger flange faces.
Because alkylation units operate under corrosive HF or H2SO4 service at elevated temperature, plaintiffs alleged that asbestos-filled gaskets were the specified material of construction well into the 1980s.
Workers Exposed
Plaintiffs allegedly identified the following trades as exposed during UOP-engineered alkylation unit turnaround and construction:
- Refinery pipefitters breaking out and re-gasketing process-piping flanges at unit tear-down.
- Boilermakers pulling channel covers on shell-and-tube exchangers and cutting replacement gasket blanks.
- Refinery millwrights rebuilding pumps and compressors integrated into the alkylation flow-sheet.
- Refinery insulators stripping calcium silicate lagging back to flange faces before boilermaker work.
Alleged exposure mechanisms included chiseling and wire-brushing dry gasket residue from raised-face flanges in tented turnaround areas, cutting CAF sheet stock on the deck plate, and installing pre-cut spiral-wound rings.