Griscom-Russell Company, headquartered in Massillon, Ohio, was one of the United States’ leading manufacturers of shell-and-tube heat exchangers, lube oil coolers, fuel oil heaters, distilling plants, and thermal heat exchange equipment for marine and naval applications. Griscom-Russell supplied the United States Navy with lube oil coolers for main propulsion turbine and reduction gear lubrication systems, fuel oil heaters for boiler fuel oil service, freshwater distilling plant heat exchange components, and general service heat exchangers for auxiliary system cooling applications throughout naval vessel engineering plants. Griscom-Russell heat exchangers were installed in virtually every class of WWII-era and Cold War naval vessel with steam propulsion — destroyers, cruisers, carriers, and auxiliary ships all incorporated Griscom-Russell heat exchange equipment in their propulsion plant lube oil systems, fuel systems, and auxiliary cooling systems. Griscom-Russell heat exchanger channel covers, bonnet flanges, and tube sheet joint connections used asbestos-containing compressed gasket materials providing liquid-tight sealing at the heat exchanger end faces. Machinist’s Mates performing heat exchanger maintenance — removing channel covers for tube inspection and tube plugging, separating bonnet flanges for tube bundle access, and replacing tube sheet gaskets during heat exchanger overhaul — encountered asbestos gasket materials at each heat exchanger joint face throughout the maintenance operation.
Heat Exchanger Channel Cover and Bonnet Gasket Asbestos
Griscom-Russell heat exchangers incorporated asbestos gaskets at all major joint faces:
- Channel cover gasket materials — Griscom-Russell shell-and-tube heat exchangers used asbestos-containing compressed gasket materials in the channel cover-to-shell flange joints at each end of the heat exchanger tube bundle. Machinist’s Mates removing Griscom-Russell heat exchanger channel covers for tube inspection, tube plugging, or tube bundle cleaning separated the channel cover flange from the shell flange, disturbing and removing the asbestos compressed gasket at the channel cover joint face. The gasket removal process — using scrapers and wire brushes to clean the mating flange faces — disturbed the asbestos sheet gasket material and released asbestos fiber at the heat exchanger maintenance work area during each channel cover removal
- Lube oil cooler channel cover gaskets — Griscom-Russell lube oil coolers for main turbine and reduction gear lube oil cooling service required periodic tube plugging to address tube failures identified during heat exchanger inspection. Machinist’s Mates performing lube oil cooler tube plugging removed the lube oil cooler channel covers, exposing the tube sheet face for tube inspection and plugging operations, with each channel cover removal requiring removal and replacement of the asbestos channel cover gasket
- Fuel oil heater bonnet gaskets — Griscom-Russell fuel oil heaters used for boiler fuel oil preheating service incorporated asbestos-containing compressed gaskets in the heater bonnet flange joints. Boiler Tenders performing fuel oil heater maintenance encountered asbestos bonnet gasket materials during heater access and maintenance operations
Tube Sheet and Shell Flange Gasket Asbestos
Griscom-Russell heat exchanger tube sheet joints used asbestos gasket materials:
- Tube sheet-to-shell flange gaskets — the tube sheet-to-shell flange joints in Griscom-Russell heat exchangers — sealing the tube sheet perimeter against the shell to separate the shell-side and tube-side fluid circuits — used asbestos-containing compressed gasket materials at the tube sheet flange joint face. Heat exchanger overhaul operations requiring tube bundle removal for complete tube replacement or bundle cleaning required separation of the tube sheet from the shell flange, disturbing the asbestos tube sheet gasket during the disassembly process
- Distilling plant heat exchanger gaskets — Griscom-Russell freshwater distilling plant heat exchangers and evaporators used in Navy ship’s service freshwater generation incorporated asbestos-containing gasket materials at the evaporator and condenser section flanged connections. Engineering ratings maintaining ship’s distilling plant equipment encountered asbestos gasket materials throughout the distilling plant maintenance operations
VA Claims for Veterans Exposed to Griscom-Russell Products
VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure from Navy heat exchanger maintenance activities. Machinist’s Mates and engineering ratings who performed heat exchanger tube plugging, channel cover removal, and overhaul operations on Griscom-Russell heat exchangers in naval vessel engineering spaces and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.