Product Description
Draiswerke continuous kneaders were used in plastics, pigment, rubber, and specialty chemical compounding for high-viscosity mixing under heat and pressure. According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, the rotor shaft stuffing boxes allegedly used braided asbestos packing rings, and the heated barrel-jacket flanges and end-plate joints allegedly sealed with compressed asbestos sheet gaskets.
Because rotor seals and jacket gaskets ran hot and cycled through thermal expansion, service intervals were frequent. Repacking, gasket removal by scraping, and cleaning cured resin off shaft surfaces allegedly liberated asbestos fibers into the operator work zone.
Workers Exposed
- Chemical process operators running compounding lines
- Plastics compounding operators feeding resin and additives
- Plant mechanics and millwrights repacking rotor seals
- Plant maintenance mechanics replacing jacket gaskets