M.W. Kellogg Orthoflow / Model IV / Heavy Oil Cracking (HOC) fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) refractory linings, riser expansion joint packing, and cyclone insulating jackets, allegedly incorporating asbestos-fiber reinforcement in gunite refractory, high-temperature packing, and expansion-joint fabric

Product Description

The M.W. Kellogg Company (New York, NY; later Kellogg Brown & Root) allegedly designed, engineered, and supplied fluid catalytic cracking units (FCCUs) — including the Orthoflow, Model IV, and Heavy Oil Cracking (HOC) configurations — to refineries across the United States from the 1940s through the early 1980s. Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Kellogg’s specified refractory linings inside FCCU reactor vessels, regenerator vessels, riser transfer lines, and cyclone inlet horns were installed using asbestos-fiber-reinforced gunite refractory and castables, and that Kellogg-specified expansion joints between the regenerator and reactor were packed with asbestos rope.

Plaintiffs further alleged that the high-temperature slide-valve stems on Kellogg FCCUs were wrapped in asbestos-fabric insulating jackets, and that turnaround work on Kellogg-designed catalytic crackers required chipping out and re-gunning the refractory on multi-year cycles.

Workers Exposed

Plaintiffs allegedly identified the following trades as exposed during M.W. Kellogg FCCU turnaround and construction work:

• Refinery insulators and refractory bricklayers chipping out spent gunite refractory from reactor and regenerator vessels and re-gunning fresh asbestos-fiber refractory.
• Boilermakers cutting into cyclone bodies to replace refractory linings.
• Refinery millwrights rebuilding slide-valves and pulling asbestos-fabric jacketing from valve stems.
• Riggers and pipefitters cutting out and replacing asbestos rope packing in high-temperature expansion joints during major turnaround.

Alleged exposure mechanisms included dry demolition of refractory, mixing of refractory gunite at ground level, hand-packing of asbestos rope into expansion-joint cavities, and unwrapping of hot-service fabric jackets.