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Did you work with Vulcan Iron Works chemical reactor and pressure-vessel external asbestos-fabric insulating jackets and removable pad insulation blankets, allegedly fabricated with asbestos-cloth outer facing and asbestos-fiber batting for high-temperature reactor and jacketed-vessel service? According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, it allegedly contained asbestos. Here is what it was, who was exposed, and who is responsible. Vulcan Iron Works chemical reactor and pressure-vessel external asbestos-fabric insulating jackets and removable pad insulation blankets, allegedly fabricated with asbestos-cloth outer facing and asbestos-fiber batting for high-temperature reactor and jacketed-vessel service, sold from the 1940s until late the 1970s. Plaintiffs allegedly identified Vulcan Iron Works chemical-reactor removable insulating pads and asbestos-fabric jackets as asbestos-containing in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation. Alleged asbestos-woven-cloth outer facing and chrysotile-fiber batting inside removable insulating pads (mattress-style) installed around Vulcan Iron Works reactor heads, agitator seal areas, jacketed reactor bodies, and nozzle penetrations. Released as friable fiber when pads were removed for internal inspection, when jacket lace-cord seams were cut open, and when saturated batting was pulled from spent pads during boilermaker and insulator re-work. Workers allegedly exposed around this product included Industrial Insulators, Boilermakers, Chemical Plant Millwrights, and Pipefitters. Asbestos claims are brought against the companies that made the products. If you worked with or around Vulcan Iron Works chemical reactor and pressure-vessel external asbestos-fabric insulating jackets and removable pad insulation blankets, allegedly fabricated with asbestos-cloth outer facing and asbestos-fiber batting for high-temperature reactor and jacketed-vessel service 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
Vulcan Iron Works (Wilkes-Barre, PA and satellite fabrication shops) allegedly fabricated ASME-code pressure vessels and jacketed chemical reactors for the U.S. chemical process industry from the 1940s through the 1970s. Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Vulcan-supplied reactors and jacketed vessels were delivered with — or specified to receive — removable “mattress-style” insulating pads fabricated with an asbestos-woven-cloth outer facing and chrysotile-fiber batting.
Plaintiffs alleged these removable pads were installed around reactor heads, agitator seal areas, nozzle penetrations, and jacketed reactor bodies to allow periodic pad removal for internal inspection without destroying rigid insulation. Because the pads were removed and replaced across many turnarounds — with the fabric facing frequently cut open at the lace-cord seam — plaintiffs alleged the pads were a recurring asbestos-exposure source.
Workers Exposed
Plaintiffs allegedly identified the following trades as exposed during Vulcan Iron Works reactor service:
- Industrial insulators fabricating, installing, and later replacing asbestos-cloth removable pads on reactor vessels.
- Chemical plant millwrights removing agitator-seal pads to rebuild mechanical seals.
- Boilermakers cutting open jacket seams to access nozzle welds during hydrotests.
- Pipefitters stripping pads back from flange faces before breaking pipe.
Alleged exposure mechanisms included cutting asbestos-cloth lace-cord seams with utility knives, dumping spent asbestos batting into refuse drums, and re-sewing patched pad facings on the shop floor.