Document mLOVVKjMBjNYwDk7mDR5Jep0

FILE NAME: Westinghouse (WH) DATE: 1971 Dec 21 DOC#: WH075 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Memo RE Asbestos Emissions to the Environment from Cobra Shoes UVRBCD !NTH RM AL CORRESPONDENCE / v>HSTINCHOUSE AIR BRAKE DIVISION V "7 ' ; -The F e d e r a l Governm ent as well as som e .State and Loca] Governments." hav e b e c o m e in te rested in pollution c a u s e d by m an y things, one o' which i s a s b e s t o s . W e h a v e be en, q u e s t i o n e d b y v a r i o u s g r o u p s and. i n d e . .dualsc o n c e r n i n g the a m o u n t of a s b e s t o s f ib e r r e l e a s e d by COBRA Shoes 'd u r in g b r a k i n g a c t i o n . ' In o r d e r to. b e a b l e to a n s w e r t h e s e q u e s t i o n s , C O B R A S hoe E n g i n e e r in g and J o h n s - M a n v i l l e . R e s e a r c h c o m b i n e d to run an . e l a b o r a t e s e r i e s of d y n a m o m e t e r t e s t s d u r i n g w h i c h . a l l t he w e a r d u s t ' f r o m , v a r i o u s t y p e s ' of b r a k i n g c y c l e s w a s c o l l e c t e d a r . d a n a l y z e d . . The resu lts of these tests snow that a lm o s t all of the asbestos fib e r-is: decom posed during brake applications. L e s s t h a n o n e p e r c e n t - o f t h e ' o r i g i n a l a s b e s t o s fiber in the shoe r e m a i n s as f i b e r in the w e a r dust and l e s s than one tenth of that b e c o m e s a i r b o r n e . ' ' Since .each stop w e a r s only a very sm all amount of m a te ria l f ro m each shoe and since each.'shoe c o n t a i n s o n l y a v e r y s m a l l p e r c e n t a g e of a s b e s t o s f i b e r , i t c a n be. s e e n t h a t the. a m o u n t of a s b e s t o s fiber that b e c o m e s a i r b o r n e wish each stop- is m inute. " . A t t a c h e d is a copy of a l e t t e r f r o m D r . ' F . L. P u n d s a c k , Vice -Presi- . - -' d e n t / R e s e a r c h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t , J o h n s - M a n v i l l e , t o D r . -VL J . ' H a r r i s ' , . ' RL-,-.. .Vice -Pres-ident/Res earch' and Test, A s s o c ia tio n of A m erican Railroads, .............: a n d a c o p y o f t h e " r e p l y . - T h e f i r s t l e t t e r d e s c r i b e s t h e t e s r s a n d t h e '" . r e s u l t s , while the reply t r a n s m i t s .the A A R 's r e a c ti o n t o 'tris inform ation. ' If any m o r e detailed inform ation regarding the tests is necessary, con tact COBRA Shoe Sales. ' ' .- GMC/ mbs ' ' Attach. ( ' c c : A t l a n ta-. Houston Philadelphia St. Paul . H. M. Linhart G. E. D. T. E . B. J. C. F. J. "W. I. Carothers ' Kerr- . Brenneman J anke Grejda G raham (J-M) 1571 . ATL_/w\ TA OFFICE'. Johns-iVianvih'e FUiearch U Engineering Ccnlcr P. O. Box 159 Monvillo. N.J. 03035 (20! ) 722-3000 W. I. G r a b ara G1Q N o v e m b e r 1, 19 71 ' ' (written 10/29/71) . . Mr.. W i l l i a m J. Harris, J r Vice President, Association of A m e r i c a n Railroads Research & Test Department ' American Railroads Building - 1920 L Street, N.Wi Washington, DC 20036 Dear Mr. Harris: ' . ' In my letter to you of J u n e 25, 1971, I had p o i n t e d out that wear tests would be p e r f o r m e d on C05?2\ b r axe snoes to d e t e r m i n e the ex t e n t to w h i c h c h r y s o t i l e f i b e r is r e leased during service. These tests have been conducted at the V/estinghouse Air Brake Division under tne super v i s i o n of J M R e s e a r c h p e r s o n n e l , and I w o u l d like to. take this o p p ortunity to i n f o r m y o u of the r e s u l t s . ' Th e W e s t i n g h o u s e Air B r a k e D i v i s i o n r a i l r o a d dynam o m e t e r in " WiIraerding, PA was used to simulate various service condi t i o n s for these' tests. In o r d e r to c o l l e c t w e a r dust samples, the wheel and braking assembly of the dynamometer . w e r e c o m p l e t e l y e n c l o s e d b y a s h e e t m e t a l ' c h a m b e r . The chamber was equipped with inlet and outlet fillers and a v a c u u m system to draw air through the en c l o s u r e . Air entered the ch a m b e r t h r o u g h a F l a n d e r s type A A a b s o l u t e riber glas"s . filter to assure that it was "clean".- A i r was drawn out of the chamber through, two 8-in. x 10-in. M i l l i p o r e membrane. " filters.of 1.2-u pore size. P r o v i s i o n w a s also made to ^ measure the air flow through the'chamber, the temperature in - the chamber, and the t e m p e rature of the w h e e l tread. P r i o r to each phase of t e s t i n g , the 'interior or the chamber . w a s w a s h e d t h o r o u g h l y w i t h m i n e r a l s p i r i t s cine then v/iped d o w n with clean, dry rags. The b r a k e h e a d , lever arm, and b o l t s had b e e n sho t - b l a s t e d - p r i o r to the s t a r t or. testing. These were also cleaned carefully before each test phase. All rivets were covered with metalized tape, and all welds were Inspected for smoothness and integrity . The brake shoe was thoroughly brushed before weighing, and the bacxer plate was wire-brushed. ` ' F o u r d i f f e r e n t .test, p h a s e s w e r e run: 1. P a s s e n g e r car s i m u l a t i o n '2. Commuter run simulation 3. Gra d e s i m u l a t i o n 4. H e a v y f r e i g h t s i m u l a t i o n . f } . Johns-iVlanville R i e : u c h 2. E n g i n e e r i n g C e n t e r P. O. 8o* 1S9 Mjnviile.N J.0633S . - (203) 722-9000 ' ' ' ' . . * Mr. W i l l i a m J. Harris, Jr N o v e m b e r 1, 1971 " Page 2 ' - - ' . ' A t the c o m p l e t i o n of each phase a l l the d u s t in the chamber and on tne -Millipore exit filters was collected, combined, and submitted for chemical and electron microsconic analysis The e l e c t r o n microscope was used to determine, the amount of a s b e s t o s fiber in the dust. . A f t e r a n a l y s i s of. the c o m p o s i t e s a m p l e for each chase, the . sample was separated into airborne and nen-airborne fractions by air elutriation. below: The results of the ar.alvsis are qiven . ' ' Results of COBRA Dust Sample Analysis Phase 1 2 3 . .4 Per Cent of Sample Airborne 20% 20 7 12 Per Cent' Asbestos Fiber Airborne Total Fraction Samle 0.012% 0.008 0.001 0.003 0.03% 0.02 0.03 0.05 ` , . F i n a l l y , c a l c u l a t i o n s were made to de t e r m i ns the amounts and p e r c e n t a g e s ' o f recognizable ashes tos fiber actually liberate d u r i n g the various phases. The r e s u l t s are as foilov;s: .:* ' P h a s e Wt. of Fiber L i b e r a t e d in Entire Phase No h of S tops in .entire Phase i . 2 . .' 3 . 4 0.0-06 grams ' 10 s t o p s f r o m SO mph 0.003 18 stops f r o m various speeds 0.016 C o n t i n u o u s 45 -minute drag ' 0.007 . 2 0 s t o p s from 40 xph . In g e n e r a l , our c o n c l u s i o n s can be s t a t e d as f o l l o w s : 1. In a l m o s t all c a s e s less t han 1 ..0 p e r cent of the or ig i r.a 1 ' fiber in the formula remains as'recognisable chrysotile fiber in the wear dust. ' * ` w* 2 I n %every Instance less than 0.05 per cent of the original fiber remains as recoyr. Liable in the frontier, of the dust which is potentially oirhorro. ' J o h n s - M a n ville P. O. Box : 59 M a r w i l l e .N .J 0335 ( 2 0 i ) 177 9 0 0 0 Mr.. 'William J. Harris, Jr N o v e m b e r 1, 1971 Page 3 . . ' T h e s e r e s u l t s are in good a g r e e m e n t w i t h the orevious work on automo t i v e brake linings. Furthermore, th =y substanti a t e the h y p o t h e s i s that the. e x t r e m e h e a r .and m e c h a n i c a l a c t i o n of the braking p r o c e s s is s u f f i c i e n t to destroy a l m o s t all the f i b e r as it is e x p o s e d at the w e a r i n g s u r f a c e "*. .. P l e a s e feel free to c o n t a c t me if y o u h a v e anv questions r e garding the test procedures, results, or c o n c l u s i o n s . Sincerely yours, F. L. Pundsack Vice President, Research & Development