Document 0JJQVDOqxQRry1eVpJYQez8mx
FIRE RESISTANT HEAT TRANSFER FLUIDS
Liquid phase heating, as opposed to vapor phase or direct fire heating, has been in use for many years. The two original fluids for this heating method were water and petroleum oil--but water was limited to 212F. and oil was and still is the cause of and the fuel for many a devastating fire. So, in the mid-1940's, some users turned to PCB fluids for extremely hazardous situations, such as chemical reactors where there was open flame heating, flammable solvents and enclosed buildings. PCB systems were few and occasional for the next 15 years, but in the 1960's with increased social consciousness and concern for safety, the number of users began to multiply.
Recognizing the potential hazard of PCB's in food, we have terminated sale of PCB fluids into all known food cooking systems. Subsequently, we have stopped selling into systems involving packaging materials, pharmaceutical manufacture, animal feed, and, in fact, have now terminated sales into all new heating systems of any type.
DSW 333846
STLCOPCB4080423
FIRE RESISTANT HEAT TRANSFER FLUIDS - Page 2
We will continue to sell into existing systems,
excepting the type mentioned above, where protection
of life and property are dominant considerations and
where the systems are well designed and accidental
leakage is contained. Examples of industries where there
are such systems are large chemical processing; resin
polymerization; drying and curing textiles, particle
board and plywood; plastics and rubber; ore drying;
carbon anode production; offshore gas dehydration systems;
barge heating; space heating; autoclaves; and waste healt
recovery from incinerators. In these systems where we
continue selling makeup PCB fluids, there is no
i
satisfactory replacement product. The PCB's are the
only commercial fire resistant heat transfer fluids. In
a system designed around these fluids, safety considera
tions are entirely different. An example is an offshore
gas dehydrating system where they used to install the
heating system on an entirely separate platform for
fire safety. To withdraw PCB's from these systems would
almost certainly, sooner or later, mean a major disaster
involving people on one of these isolated platforms.
DsW 333847 STLCOPCB4080424
FIRE RESISTANT HEAT TRANSFER FLUIDS - Page 3
To summarize our position in heat transfer systems, this fluid, with good housekeeping, can be kept from finding its way into the environment. And to remove it would create unacceptably hazardous working conditions for thousands of people. Therefore, though we will not sell fluid for new systems, we will sell as makeup for old systems that are not involved in any way with the food chain, that are well designed, and where accidental spills are contained.
OSVM 33348
STLCOPCB4080425