Product Description

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Peerless Industrial Group (Peerless Manufacturing) supplied refinery process-heater and reformer-furnace components — including radiant-section wall panels and convection-section expansion joint assemblies — with asbestos-block hot-side lagging on the radiant section and asbestos-fabric expansion joints between convection tube-bank passes. The asbestos-block lagging allegedly held skin temperatures down on the radiant firebox exterior, and the asbestos-fabric expansion joints allegedly absorbed thermal growth between convection passes on hot flue-gas service.

Plaintiffs alleged that Peerless refinery furnace components remained in service across U.S. refinery process heaters and reformer furnaces from the 1940s through the 1980s, requiring turnaround tear-out and replacement.

Workers Exposed

Plaintiffs allegedly exposed to Peerless Industrial Group refinery furnace asbestos-containing components include:

  • Refinery insulators stripping and re-lagging asbestos-block on radiant firebox exteriors
  • Refinery bricklayers and refractory masons rebuilding heater radiant-section refractory
  • Refinery boilermakers and vessel welders on heater tube-bank and header hot-work
  • Refinery turnaround (TAR) contractors and shutdown crews cutting out convection expansion joints
  • Refinery pipefitters and steamfitters tying in transfer lines and manifold headers
  • Refinery outside operators and process operators
  • Refinery millwrights and mechanical maintenance