B.F. Sturtevant Company, headquartered in Hyde Park, Massachusetts (later a neighborhood of Boston), was a major American manufacturer of centrifugal fans, forced draft blowers, induced draft fans, and air handling equipment for industrial, marine, and naval applications. Founded in the 19th century and supplying fans and blowers to the Navy for decades, Sturtevant provided forced draft blowers for naval boiler combustion air supply systems and ventilation fans for engineering space forced ventilation throughout the mid-20th century. Sturtevant forced draft blowers drove combustion air supply to naval boiler furnaces, providing the pressurized air supply required for boiler fuel combustion in high-pressure naval steam plants. Sturtevant centrifugal fans provided forced ventilation for engineering spaces, firerooms, and machinery rooms aboard naval vessels. Sturtevant blower and fan products incorporated asbestos-containing gasket materials in blower casing joint flanges, shaft housing flanges, and inlet and outlet connection flanges, with some Sturtevant products incorporating asbestos-containing materials in blower shaft packing assemblies. Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates maintaining Sturtevant equipment in naval engineering spaces encountered asbestos gasket and packing materials during equipment maintenance operations.

Forced Draft Blower Asbestos Materials

Sturtevant forced draft blowers incorporated asbestos in casing and sealing components:

  • Blower casing flange gaskets — Sturtevant forced draft blowers used in Navy boiler combustion air supply systems incorporated asbestos-containing compressed gasket materials in blower casing joint flanges, inlet duct connection flanges, and outlet connection flanges. Boiler Tenders performing blower maintenance requiring casing access or duct connection separation encountered and disturbed asbestos gasket materials at the blower casing flange joints during maintenance and overhaul operations
  • Blower shaft housing gaskets — the shaft bearing housing flanges on Sturtevant forced draft blowers used asbestos-containing gasket materials at the housing joint faces. Machinist’s Mates performing bearing maintenance on Sturtevant blowers — requiring bearing housing disassembly — encountered and replaced asbestos-containing bearing housing gasket materials during bearing replacement operations
  • Blower discharge duct insulation — the high-pressure discharge air ducting from Sturtevant forced draft blowers to boiler furnace air inlets incorporated asbestos-containing insulation materials on duct surfaces in some installations. Boiler Tenders working with the forced draft air duct systems in ship boiler rooms accumulated background asbestos exposure from the asbestos duct insulation in the blower discharge system

Ventilation Fan Asbestos Materials

Sturtevant engineering space ventilation fans incorporated asbestos in mounting and sealing components:

  • Fan casing and bulkhead penetration gaskets — Sturtevant centrifugal ventilation fans used for engineering space forced ventilation in naval vessels incorporated asbestos-containing gasket materials at fan casing connection flanges and at bulkhead penetration flange joints where ventilation ducting passed through watertight bulkheads. Engineering ratings performing ventilation system maintenance encountered asbestos gasket materials at fan flange connections and bulkhead penetration assemblies during ventilation system maintenance work
  • Fan motor and drive housing sealing materials — Sturtevant fans driven by electric motors incorporated asbestos-containing materials in some motor-to-fan housing mounting gasket assemblies. Machinist’s Mates performing motor or drive maintenance on Sturtevant ventilation fans encountered these mounting gasket materials during motor removal and reinstallation operations

Boiler Room Proximity Exposure

Sturtevant forced draft blower maintenance in boiler rooms involved compounded asbestos exposure:

  • Boiler room engineering space exposure — Boiler Tenders maintaining Sturtevant forced draft blowers in naval boiler rooms performed blower maintenance in the same engineering spaces as the asbestos-insulated naval boilers. The combination of blower gasket and packing maintenance with background exposure from boiler casing insulation and steam pipe covering in the boiler room created compounded asbestos exposure conditions for Boiler Tenders working with both the boiler plant and the associated Sturtevant blower equipment in naval boiler rooms

VA Claims for Veterans Exposed to Sturtevant Products

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure from Navy engineering space equipment maintenance. Boiler Tenders and Machinist’s Mates who maintained B.F. Sturtevant fans and forced draft blowers in naval vessel engineering spaces and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.