It should be noted that Ivy Lee made two more visits to the USSR and lived to see the establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and USSR in 1933. During the last years of his life, his biggest concern was that Soviet Russia, after pushing for accelerated industrialization and collectivization, not become totally isolated from the global community. “The Russians turned from the ideas of the internationalists to their domestic affairs and realized that they would soon become economically independent and could manage without the United States,” he told his friends. Lee gave his own government just one piece of advice—develop relations with Soviet Russia in such a way that once it saw the achievements of other countries, it would gradually and voluntarily renounce socialism and communism. This is how he suggested solving the “the world enigma of the USSR.” It is now clear that Lee’s prophecy came true; it just took more than 55 years to happen.
Engineer Kapelyushnikov’s Turbodrill
The aggressive implementation of a government program to retool the oil industry was producing visible results by the mid-1920s. The American method of rotary drilling had replaced the rod-tool drilling method in drilling equipment, and by fiscal 1928–1929, rotary drilling had become the undisputed technique of choice in the domestic oil industry (used for 86.7% of drilling in Baku and 73.2% in Grozny). The new technology resulted in a more than tenfold increase in drilling speed and a reduction in drilling costs. Less casing pipe was consumed during well casing using the American method than the old rod-tool method since the well structure was simplified, the initial diameter was reduced, and fewer pipe strings were used. The volume of steel pipes used at production fields was cut by 65–75%, and the cost of drilling decreased from 111 rubles per foot in fiscal 1923–24 to 53 rubles per foot in fiscal 1927–28. Aleksandr Serebrovsky, head of Azneft, said his company realized more than 100–120 million rubles over those four years solely as a result of the improved drilling method.
At the same time Soviet oil fields were starting to employ the new US method, testing began on a new well drilling method which was to open a new era in the development of the oil industry and was the brainchild of the talented Russian engineer Matvey Kapelyushnikov (1896–1959). Kapelyushnikov graduated from the mechanical department of Tomsk Technological Institute in 1914 and then worked as a design engineer for a company in Baku. In May 1920, he was appointed chief engineer at one of Azneft’s largest production companies. After analyzing the drilling business and correctly concluding that rotary drilling was replacing the archaic rod-tool drilling at fields on the Absheron Peninsula, Kapelyushnikov very perceptively uncovered a serious flaw in the American method. In rotary drilling, the engine rotor that spins the drill string holding the drill bit is located on the surface, so if the drill pipe string is very long, all that weight has to be rotated just to spin the small drill bit which is drilling rock at great depths. Only a small part of the energy used for rotation is used productively, while the rest is wasted. Pipes gyrate, their outer walls rub against the rock walls of the borehole, and the inner walls are worn away by the sand that is always present in clay drilling mud. As a result, the drill pipes wear down quickly, break, become warped, and require frequent replacement.
Kapelyushnikov began to ponder ways to rectify this flaw. A detailed study of scientific and technical literature pointed him in the right direction and he realized the only solution was to construct a reliable, high-performance downhole drilling motor.
Technical solutions for building downhole drilling motors and similar drilling technology appeared at the end of the 19th century and resulted in a hydraulic downhole motor (Brandt, 1875), a turbine downhole motor (Westinghouse, 1883), a rotating downhole hydraulic motor (Russian engineer Kuzma Simchenko, 1895), a downhole hydraulic motor (Valitsky, 1895), and a turbine ram for quick-blow drilling (Prushkovsky, early 20th century). The inventors designed these drilling devices so that the motor controlling the drill was not located on the surface but attached directly to the drill bit to rotate it. Design flaws prevented these motors from being put into actual use, but still, all downhole motors had one thing in common—the drill bit was rotated directly without intermediary gear mechanisms.
Kapelyushnikov’s hard work finally produced the long-sought-after result: the first efficient downhole motor—the geared turbodrill. Kapelyushnikov submitted a patent application for the invention in Moscow on September 26, 1922.
The first test design of Kapelyushnikov’s turbodrill weighed about one ton. The turbodrill’s cylindrical shell held a motor with a single-stage turbine, which was put into motion by the flow of drilling mud pumped in via the drill pipe. The turbine was connected to the drill bit via a gearbox which reduced the drill bit rotation speed.
The turbodrill prototype was tested for the first time in summer 1923 in water off a pier belonging to the former Baku Oil Company. It was then tested at a well at the Surakhany oil field. Several feet were drilled during this test, which was conducted in the presence of Party official Kirov and all the Politburo members of the Party’s Baku committee. In 1924, at the Surakhany oil fields, the world’s first well was drilled using Kapelyushnikov’s turbodrill, with a depth of about 2,000 feet.
Tests of the downhole motor designed by Kapelyushnikov confirmed the motor’s operating capability. The benefits of such a turbodrill, namely that only the drill bit rotates during drilling, were immediately apparent to petroleum engineers. The heavy pipe string did not rotate and only ran along the inside of the well as it became deeper. It turned out that it was much easier to drill with the turbodrill at great depths since the pipe did not cause any friction with the well wall. The accident rate with pipes also declined considerably compared to the old rotary drilling method. With the support of Kirov, huge orders were placed with the Maltsev mechanical plant for production of the new turbodrills.
The Soviet government gave Kapelyushnikov two major awards for his invention: the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and the Order of Lenin. The government of the Republic of Azerbaijan granted him the title of Hero of Labor of the Azerbaijani Socialist Soviet Republic.
Further testing revealed, however, that the distinct advantages of Kapelyushnikov’s turbodrill as compared to rotary drilling were somewhat blunted by the fact that the turbodrill could only operate for a few hours at a time and the average operating speed of turbine drilling lagged behind that of rotary drilling under identical conditions. The weakest components of the first turbodrill design were the turbine and the gearbox. The turbine could only operate for a few hours, while the moving parts of the gearbox wore down quickly as a result of high pressure and the flow of drilling mud entering the crankcase, requiring frequent replacements.
The news of Kapelyushnikov’s patent was published in the Soviet press on August 31, 1925. The patent was officially granted for 15 years effective September 15, 1924. Curiously enough, Kapelyushnikov had applied for and received a patent in Great Britain back in October 1923.
The invention of a turbodrill in the USSR soon attracted the attention of the US engineering community. In 1928, the US journal Petroleum asked Kapelyushnikov for a description of his invention and invited him to present a report on the turbodrill at the World’s Fair of Petroleum Equipment in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1929. In addition, Standard Oil of New York and Texaco Inc. asked Amtorg officials to demonstrate well drilling using the turbodrill at US oil fields. The Soviet government decided to grant the request and sent a drilling crew to the US led by Kapelyushnikov with two gear-based turbodrills.
Kapelyushnikov presented reports in the US on the operating principles of his turbodrill and then demonstrated drilling with the downhole motors the crew had brought from the USSR at a well owned by Texas Oil in Earlsboro, Oklahoma.