SHAFT DRILLING IN THE U.S.S.R.: HISTORY AND RECENT EXPERIENCE.

Published at the office of. The Institution of mining and Metallurgn 1984

A. Agarkow

New Drilling Technologies, Spezchahtoburenije SSB Donesk, U.S.S.R.

E. Leonenko

New Drilling Technologies, Spezchahtoburenije SSB Donesk, U.S.S.R.

G. Muller

WIRTH Maschine Erkelenz, Federal Republic of Germany.

Abstract

The paper covers the development of the soviet shaft drilling industry by recounting the use of rigs between 1936 and the present date. Special consideration is given to the rigs WIRTH type L 35 type rigs and major points from recent experience made during the last decade of drilling more than 25 shafts. The paper includes a description of the standard drilling and lining operations in use today and the performance achieved, including an account of a major extensive fishing operation.

The aims of the Soviet Special Shaft Drilling Company together with WIRTH in developing a Steerable Drilling Device upon which the drilling industry could rely are explained. The first results from the industrial tests and applications of such a device are summarized.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Company Spezschachtoburenije (SSB), located in Donetsk, USSR, was established in 1966 to meet the huge demand for shafts in the coal industry of the Soviet-Union and especially within the Ukraine for the coal mines of the Donetsk area. From 1978, the year of the first direct contacts between SSB and WIRTH, a close cooperation and intimate relationship between both companies started to develop, fostered by the desire of both sides to overcome the obstacles arising from the transition from "big hole drilling" to "shaft drilling" and founded upon WIRTH's deep involvement in developing machines for shaft drilling.

Today, the Raise Boring programme of WIRTH covers all diameters up to 6 m and up to 1 000 m depth. This programme was widened by developing the first Down Reaming Machine built currently for diameters between 4.5 m and 8.20 m. These machines have been used on more than 40 shaft boring projects worldwide; totalling mere than 12 km.

The maximum shaft dimensions achieved so far, are 8.20 m in diameter and 705 m in depth, both in boring the "Lummerschied" shaft in Gottelborn at Saarbergwerke/Germany. The development of a Full-face Shaft Boring Machine, with the cuttings being transported hydraulically to an upper level or to surface, was a logical step in a further extension of WIRTH's shaft boring machine programme, and two practical tests in coal mines in Germany showed the feasibility of this concept; the last test at Heinrich Robert in 1983 was commented upon as follows: "The Heinrich Robert Shaft has now been succes-fully completed to a depth of 165 m (540 ft) in a drilling time of 64 days. Maximum advance was 7 m/d (23 ft per day) with an average of 2.5 m/d (8 ft per day) and 18 m/wk (59 ft per week).

While these average rates of advance are only two-thirds of those achieved in sinking the new Silver Shaft at Hecla's Lucky Friday Mine, keep in mind that we are comparing the first use of a prototype machine with a record breaking performance by conventional methods. The job must be considered an outstanding success and foretells, in my opinion.

The manufacturing programme of WIRTH is completed by the shaft drilling rigs, type L, of which 14 rigs have been built during the last 10 years; 10 of them being more or less continuously in operation in the USSR.

The cooperation between Spezschachtoburenije, as the biggest shaft drilling contractor in the world, on one side, and WIRTH, the sole manufacturer currently producing a complete range of equipment for all shaft drilling and boring techniques, assures further developments helpful for the whole shaft drilling industry.

2. HISTORY OF SHAFT DRILLING IN THE USSR

Shaft drilling was used for the first time in the USSR, in 1938 by the utilisation of Rotary Drilling Rigs using reaming procedures. The max. diameter drilled was 2.4 m; a pilot hole of 600 mm i meter being reamed in 6 steps of 300 mm each. The depth was between 30 and 100 m and 7 holes were drilled in total. After an interruption caused by the war, drilling with rotary rigs was started again, in 1947. In 1956, the first purpose-built shaft drilling rig, type UKB-3.6 was built and put into operation, as the modified oil field rigs previously used no longer met the requirements. This machine utilised coring techniques and recovered cores of 3 m diameter and 5 m in length weighing 100 tons, from a drilling diameter of 3.6 m. With this machine it was also possible for the first time to drill such a large hole in unstable rock by the 'full-face' drilling method. The UKB-3.6 drilled 3 shafts with a total depth of 1300 m; the max. individual depth being 605 m, and the max. drilling performance was 153 m/month. At the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels, the gold medal for construction was awarded to this shaft drilling rig. In the late fifties, development of the shaft drilling rigs USTM-6.2 and USTM-7.5/8.75 was started, and they were put into operation in 1962, for the first time. This machine type drilled 4 shafts with diameters of 6.2 m and 7.5 m which are still used today as main shafts. The total depth of all 4 shafts was 1600 m.

At the same time, the so-called RTB-units (Reaction-Turbo Drills) equipped with components proved in the oil industry were put into operation. On the Reaction Turbo Drilling Rigs, up to 5 turbo-drills are mounted on a common support which is rotated by the reaction to their moments so that each turbo-drill has its own cutting track. This' procedure is still widely employed in the USSR in spite of its limited technical possibilities. At the optimal drilling diameter of 2.4 m, a depth of 940 m has been achieved, the max. depth of 1220 m was drilled at 1.2 m diameter. The max. drilling diameter at the collar shaft is 5.5 m. At 3.2 m dia. 640 m depth was reached and at 4.0 m dia. 450 m depth. Between 1970 and 1980, 50 km of shaft were drilled in total by RTB rigs. Since 1981,10 air-lift drilling rigs L 35, L 35 K and L 35 M from WIRTH have been employed in the USSR with drilling diameters up to 4.7 m and a max. depth of 700 m with an inner shaft diameter of 3.5 m (fig. 7). Up to now, 25 shafts have been or are being drilled totalling to 9636 m, the deepest shaft achieved a final depth of 748 m.

Nowadays, these rigs are being utilised in the Ukraine, in the Rostow area, in Karaganda and in the area of Novokuznezk. The L 35 rigs were used in 1981 and 1982 for the first time, the L 35 K rigs in 1984 and 1985, whereas the three L 35 K rigs started drilling operations only in 1986 and 1987.

© 2010 Гусева Галина Геннадиевна