Steam Powered Plants and Ships

Steam powered turbines are found in power plants and on Navy ships.  Their purposes are the same wherever they are located: to drive the steam powered equipment that either generates the electricity or drives the ship.  Asbestos insulation was used extensively in both instances.

Power Plants

Electricity has historically been produced when high pressure steam generated by huge boilers is used to operate all the equipment needed to produce electricity.  Beginning in the 1970s, many utilities began to use gas-powered turbines.  There are also some nuclear power plants where the steam is generated by nuclear reactors.

The equipment in a traditional power plant was steam driven and insulated extensively with asbestos products.  Asbestos was found on the boiler, the turbines, and the accessory equipment including pumps, valves, and regulators that were required to operate the plant. It was disturbed as the plants were maintained and repaired.

All of the workers who helped to build and maintain these electrical power plants were exposed to asbestos and are at risk of contracting an asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis.

Steam Powered Navy ships

Up until the 1970’s with the introduction of the USS Spruance (DD-963), the lead ship of the Spruance class destroyers, virtually all large Navy ships were powered by steam.  For steam ships, the major pieces of equipment contained within the principal engineering spaces, i.e. the fire rooms, engine rooms and auxiliary machinery spaces, provided all the necessary components to achieve the traditional steam propulsion cycle, portrayed below.  Since every piece of equipment shown in the figure operates at elevated temperatures, all such equipment and the associated piping were insulated with asbestos.

Asbestos Insulation On Machinery and Equipment

Because the machinery and equipment on a steam powered ship operated at high temperatures, asbestos insulation was needed to preserve the heat in the hot pipes and machinery while keeping the machinery spaces cool enough to allow the men to work in those areas.  Asbestos insulating products were used extensively throughout these compartments to accomplish those purposes.

The men who worked in the machinery spaces were directly exposed to these asbestos materials on a daily basis. The other crewmen who lived, ate and socialized with these workers were also exposed to the large quantities of asbestos dust these men carried on their clothing.  All of the men who served on steam-driven ships of the US Navy were exposed to toxic asbestos and face the risk of contracting mesothelioma.