CTA Report, Draft 1, ISP Review - US Chemical Safety and Hazard ...

4.0 Process Description
The production lines in Corbin used a process technology initially patented by the Gustin-Bacon
Company. 2 Originally, the process used shoddy 3 cotton and phenolic resin for the manufacture of
acoustical and thermal insulation. In the 1990s, fiberglass began replacing the shoddy cotton in CTA
insulation products, a changeover that was essentially complete by 2001.
4.1 Line 405
Lines 401, 402, and 403 generally operated in a manner similar to 405 (Figure 3). However, the process at
line 405 is significant because CSB determined that it most likely was the origin of the initial ignition and
explosion (Section 7.1.1.1). Line 416 only applied additional coatings to the industrial insulation
products produced in Lines 401 and 402 and used no powdered phenolic resins.
4.1.1 Raw Materials and Feeders
Three raw materials—fiberglass, phenolic resin powder, and facing—were used to manufacture the
industrial and automotive acoustical insulation products at CTA. Various types of fiberglass were fed
into the line at the south end by blend line feeders. 4 A picker then chopped, mixed, and spread the
fiberglass to create a web, which was moved via another conveyor to the binder-feeder. A manually
2
In April of 1949, the Gustin-Bacon manufacturing company applied for and received a patent number 2,467,291
from the United States Patent Office for a mat process to manufacture Felted Fibrous Insulating Material.
3
Shoddy is the name given to special types of fabric made from remanufactured materials (i.e., materials which
have already been spun into yarn or woven into cloth, but have been torn up or ground up into a fibrous mass,
respun, and rewoven).
4
Fiberglass arrived at the CTA facility in wire-bound bales and was loaded onto conveyors attached to the feeders.
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