A history of failed innovation: continuous cooking and the Soviet pulp industry, 1940s–1960s

Abstract

In the years before and after the Second World War, chemical and related industries in a variety of countries experienced a surge in innovation and development. As a result, the pulp industry became a space for considerable innovation. In Sweden, Johan Richter developed the Kamyr digester, a pulp cooker that could run continuously and was adopted by industry within a decade. Prior to Richter, Soviet engineer Leonid Zherebov designed a similar cooker. But after 25 years of experiments, Zherebov’s design failed, and Soviet factories began to produce pulp using imported Kamyr digesters. This article examines the history of continuous pulp cooking in the Soviet Union as a means to understand the nature of Russian technological innovation and its failures. The paper contends that his effort failed because of the technological system developed by Soviet forestry – a system characterized by a lack of open communication among its main institutional actors and a scarcity of resources to facilitate innovation.

Keywords:

• Technological innovation
• Soviet Union
• continuous cooking
• pulp and paper industry
• Kamyr
• Zherebov

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Julia Lajus as well as Sari Autio-Sarasmo, Sakari Heikkinen, Niklas Jensen-Eriksen and Mats Fridlund for their valuable comments at the First Annual Conference of the Doctoral Program in Political, Societal and Regional Change in the University of Helsinki.

Notes

1. Pis`mo leitenanta-inzhenera Pravdenko M. Pervukhinu (Letter by engineer lieutenant Pravdenko to M. Pervukhin)//RGAE (Russian State Archive of the Economy). F. 8513. Op. 1. D. 232. L. 101–105.

2. Graham, Lonely Ideas.

3. Graham, Science in Russia, 180.

4. Graham, Lonely Ideas; Research under communism is considered thoroughly by Asif Siddiqi, who focused on Germans worked in the post-war Soviet Union. See Siddiqi, ‘Germans in Russia’. He also showed that in the USSR creating of ballistic rockets was not initially well planned and mostly based on enthusiasm of innovators. See Siddiqi, The Red Rockets` Glare.

5. Bailes, Technology and Society, 345; Zhuravlev, ‘Malen`kie liudi’. The authors explain that heads of factories usually spent additional funds on over-fulfilling plans (as encouragements for workers) rather than supporting time-consuming inventions. While Zhuravlev mainly discussed the bureaucracy at the local level, Bailes listed a larger number of reasons why Soviet innovations failed. In particular, he stressed the imbalance between industrial production and applied research, as many scientists were focused on fundamental investigations that had a little connection with the practical industrial sector.

6. Heywood, Engineer of Revolutionary Russia. See also Graham, The Ghost.

7. Sutton, Western Technology, xxv. Even in the 1930s, the age of ‘high Stalinism’ when the state was especially closed ideologically, purchases of Western (firstly, American) technology and visits from foreign specialists played a large role in industrialization. See Cohen, ‘Circulatory Localities’.

8. Hanson, The Rise and Fall, 61.

9. Barber et al., ‘The Structure, 23. See more on how information was defragmented in Stalin`s Russia in Medushevsky, ‘Stalinisim kak model’.

10. Hughes, Networks of Power.

11. ‘From Chips to Pulp in Minutes’, 8.

12. Kamyr’s name originated from two companies: AB Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad of Sweden and Myrens Verkstad of Norway.

13. Hughes, “The Evolution,” 52.

14. Toivanen, Learning and Corporate Strategy, 209.

15. Riche, “Impact of Automation,” 1114.

16. Rydholm, Continuous Pulping Processes, 3.

17. An overview of circulation of pulp cooking technologies (including improving batch cooking) in the nineteenth century is given in Burke, ‘Wood Pulp’, 179.

18. Rydholm, Continuous Pulping Processes, 7.

19. Laakso, Modeling of Chip Bed Backing, 19.

20. Rydholm, Continuous Pulping Processes, 10.

21. Nepenin, Varka sul`fatnoi tsellulozy, 9.

22. Toivanen, Learning and Corporate Strategy, 210.

23. I assume that there were some contacts between Richter and Zherebov, although I did not find any indications in the sources.

24. For example, in 1926 he received a patent for producing galipot from resinous wood, a project he had finished 11 years earlier. See Baza patentov SSSR. In the NEP period, between 1924 and 1931, the Soviet state encouraged partial capitalism and allowed patents as a form of private intellectual property. See more in Kolesnikov, ‘Vekhi otechestvennogo izobretatel`stva’, 62.

25. Graham, Science in Russia, 174.

26. Zherebov, K 100-letiu so dnya rozhdenia, 2.

27. M. Serdiukov, M. Popov, A. Vasilenko. Dokladnaya zapiska po voprosu o nepreryvnoi varke tsellulozy na Svetogorskom ZBK Ministerstva bumazhnoi i derevoobrabatyvaiushchei promyshlennosti, 1956 god (Report on continuous pulp cooking in the Svetogorsk pulp and paper plant of the Ministry of Paper and Wood Processing Industry)//RGAE. F. 9480. Op. 2. D. 146. L. 5–6.

28. Among the largest factories are Balakhna built in 1925, Kondopoga (1929), Vishery (1931), Maryisk (1938), Segezha (1939) and Solikamsk (1941).

29. On foreign factor in Soviet modernization see Schattenberg, Stalins Ingenieure; Zhuravlev, ‘Malen`kie liudi’; Golubev et al., The Search, among others.

30. Doklad GNTK SM SSSR ‘O sostoianii i tekhnicheskom urovne tsellulozno-bumazhnoi promyshlennosti’, 20.09.1957 (Report by the State Committee on Science and Technology ‘On the pulp and paper industry and its technical level’, 20.09.1957)//RGAE. F. 9480. Op. 3. D. 1154. L. 57.

31. Even in high priority industries there was a low level of mechanization and a scarce array of products. Thus, as Robert Campbell says, although the Soviet Union possessed rich energy resources, the development was tempered by a lack of new technologies. See Campbell, Soviet Energy Technologies. Also, see The Technological Level.

32. Reducing labour was a logical outcome of automation of industrial production in all over the world. The mid-twentieth century witnessed a rapid automation in many fields, the process closely connected with the development of computing and cybernetics.

33. Bailes, Technology and Society, 343.

34. Richter’s invention was likely interrupted by the war.

35. Parrott, Politics and Technology.

36. Kilin, Karelia v politike, 42. Kilin argues that the war with Finland was initiated by the Soviet government because of two reasons: it wanted the Finns not to enter into alliance with Germany and annex the Finnish territory near the Leningrad military district.

37. A comprehensive list of Soviet pulp and paper enterprises in different regions is given in Barr, ‘Regional Variation’, 47–8. The authors counted that of 186 plants working in 1965, 37 were that moved to the Soviet Union between 1940 and 1945 as the result of territorial expansion in the Baltic States, Kaliningrad, areas annexed from Finland and the Sakhalin region.

38. Prikaz Ministerstva tselluloznoi i bumazhnoi promyshlennosti SSSR ot 6 dekabria 1947 goda (Decree of the Ministry of Pulp and Paper Industry of the USSR issued on 6 December 1947)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 1. D. 7. L. 27; Prikaz Ministra tselluloznoi i bumazhnoi promyshlennosti (Decree of the Minister of Pulp and Paper Industry)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 1. D. 13. L. 42. The Ministry of Pulp and Paper Industry was reorganized in 1948 when it was unified with the Ministry of the Forestry Industry into the Ministry of Forestry and Paper Industry until 1951. Then a new Ministry of Paper and Wood Processing Ministry was created.

39. Prikaz Ministerstva tselluloznoi i bumazhnoi promyshlennosi SSSR ot 6 dekabria 1947 goda (Decree by the Ministry of Pulp and Paper Industry of the USSR issued on 6 December1947)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 1. D. 7. L. 25. The Ministry of Pulp and Paper Industry was reorganized in 1948 when it was unified with the Ministry of the Forestry Industry into the Ministry of Forestry and Paper Industry until 1951. Then a new Ministry of Paper and Wood Processing Ministry was created.

40. Perechen` stroitel`stva ustanovok po nepreryvnoi varok i nepreryvnomu gidrolizu (List of facilities for continuous pulp cooking and continuous hydrolysis)//LOGAV. F. R-180. F. 1. L. 24.

41. Kolesnikov, Istoriya izobretatel`stva, 5. The exception was the NEP period which allowed private intellectual property in the form of patenting. After the war, inventing was centralized and put into responsibility of a special Committee on Inventions (functioned between 1946 and 1947) and the Committee on Implementing New Techniques into the Economy (1947–1951) usually acted through ministries. In 1951–1955 inventions were given directly to ministries, which opened departments focused on innovations.

42. Kragh, ‘The Soviet Enterprise’, 367.

43. Laine, ‘Modernization’, 29.

44. In 1930, a factory in Nikolaev in the Ukrainian Republic, produced the first domestic pulp digesters, which were installed in new pulp and paper plants. In 1934, the factories of the Central Administration of the Chemical Industry (a body within the People’s Commissariat of Forestry Industry) in Suma and Kiev began the production of digesters and furnaces designed after plans of foreign companies and ‘foreign professional literature’. Vybor obosnovania konstruktsi i tipov vysokoproizvoditel`nogo oborudovania dlia proizvodstva polutsellulozy i tsellulozy iz trostnika (Choosing the construction and types of highly efficient equipment for making semipulp and pulp from reeds)//RGAE. F. 9480. Op. 3. D. 1178. L. 68–69.

45. This campaign was launched by a decree on ‘Measures on Liquidating the Backwardness of Pulp and Paper Industry’ which implied improving technologies, mechanization of works in factories, brining new technologies and producing modern techniques for pulp and paper industrial sector.

46. Stenografichesky otchet 28 sessii Uchenogo soveta instituta o resultatakh eksperimental`nykh rabot, provedennykh v 1955–1956 gg. na Svetogorskoi ustanovke dlia nepreryvnoi varki sul`fitnoi tselluilozy (Stenographic report of the 28th session of the Institute on the results of experiments held in 1955–1956 with the digester for continuous cooking of sulphite cellulose in Svetogorsk)//RGANT (Sankt-Peterburg). F. 303. Op. 13. D. 281. L. 57.

47. Pis`mo i.o. nachal`nika Glavsul`fittsellulozy Maluitina direktoru Enso, 1947 (Letter to the associate director of Glavsulphittselluloza Maliutin to the head of Enso)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 1. D. 11. L. 4.

48. Filtzer, Soviet Workers, 26.

49. Actually, the Soviet Union had intensive trade connections with a number of Western and developing countries. Among huge literature on this issue, see more in Cain, ‘Economic Statecraft’.

50. Akty po priemke importnogo oborudovania (Lists of received foreign equipment)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 4. D. 57. L. 60, 77, 91.

51. Prikaz ministra lesnoi i bumazhnoi promyshlennosti SSSR ot 16.10.1950 g. (Decree by the Minister of Forestry and Paper Industry of the USSR, issued on 16 October 1950)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 1. D. 15. L. 6.

52. Pis`mo direktora Svetogorskogo TsBK Sil`chenko zamestiteliu nachalnika Glavtsellulozy P.N. Alekseevu, 1950 g. (Letter by the head of the Svetogorsky Pulp and Paper Plant A. Sil`chenko to the associate director of Glavtselluloza, 1950)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 2. D. 20. L. 16.

53. Stakhanovets (Svetogorsky rabochii) was a local newspaper, the main source of information in the plant.

54. Otchet ob osvoenii i eksperimental`nykh ispytaniiakh opytnoi ustanovki dlia nepreryvnoi varki (Report on implementing and experiments on continuous pulp cooking)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 4. D. 331. L. 10.

55. Ibid.

56. Barber et al., ‘The Structure,’ 9.

57. In the reports on supplies of bleached pulp, there were several classified enterprises which received raw materials for military purposes. See Otchety po vepolneniu plana sbyta produktsii (Reports on supplies)//LOGAV. F.R-180. Op. 5. D. 293. L. 5, among others.

58. Protokol soveshchania pri zamestitele ministra K.A. Veinove, 1953 g. (Protocol of the meeting held by deputy minister K.A. Veinov in 1953)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 1. D. 25. L. 8.

59. Pis`mo nachal`niku inspektsii pri Ministerstve lesnoi i bumazhnoi promyshlennosti SSSR Nikiforovu ot direktora Enso A. Sil`chenko ot 4 dekabria 1950 goda (Letter to the head of the inspection of the Ministry of Forestry and Paper Industry of the USSR Nikiforov sent by the head of Enso A. Sil`chenko, 4th December, 1950)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 2. D. 20. L. 33.

60. Otchet o komandirovke L.A. Mazina (Report on the business trip by L.A. Mazin)//RGAE. F. 9480. Op. 7. D. 925. L. 103.

61. There were more indications about these obstacles in communication between research and industry. The Kamsky paper plant had been initially constructed on the basis of plans proposed by Giprobum – the head institution to construct industrial objects in the Soviet Union. However, as the first head of the plant M. Eliashberg said, this plan included many significant mistakes. While the plant was under construction, the engineers decided to work out a new one, actually not referring to Giprobum. See Kamskomu kombinatu 20 let, 63. These examples witness that the Soviet system allowed competition between organizations inside the country. See more on competition in socialism in Competition in Socialist society.

62. TsNIIB was established in 1930 (Zherebov was among its founders) as the first research organization in the pulp and paper industry. It consisted of several departments, each dealing with both applied and theoretical research in the field, being important in terms of conducting research on pulp-based products.

63. Sekretnoe pis`mo A. Sil`chenko direktoru TSNIIB Minlesbumproma SSSR S.A. Puzyrevu, 1951 god (Secret letter by A. Sil`chenko to the head of the Central Institute of Paper of the Ministry of Forestry and Paper Industry S.A. Puzyrev)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 2. D. 15. L. 1.

64. Ibid.

65. Pis`mo direktora TsNIIB Minlesbumproma SSSR S.A. Puzyreva direktoru Enso A. Sil`chenko (Letter by the head of the Central Institute of Paper and Pulp of the Ministry of Forestry and Paper Industry S. Puzyrev to the head of Enso A. Sil`chenko)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 2. D. 15. L. 2.

66. Otchet o rabote, provedennoi TsNIIbom po tvorcheskomu sodruzhestvu nauki i proizvodstva (Report on the activities of the Central Institute of Paper and Pulp in the cooperation of science and industry)//RGANT SPb. F. 303. Op. 13. D. 84. L. 17–18.

67. Bailes, Technology and Society, 371.

68. Pis`mo glavnogo inzhenera K. Malyshkina i.o. nachal`nika Glavtsellulozy Minlesbumproma SSSR E.A. Kuznetsovu, 1951 god (Letter by the engineer-in-chief K. Malyshkin to the vice-director of Glavtselluloza of the Ministry of Forestry and Paper Industry E.A. Kuznetsov)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 2. D. 15. L. 7.

69. Pis`mo nachal`nika Glavtsellulozy M. Serdiukova glavnomu inzheneru K. Malyshkinu (Letter by the head of Glavtselluloza M. Serdiukov to the engineer-in-chief K. Malyshkin)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 2. D. 15. L. 8.

70. Spravka o tekhnicheskom urovne tekhnologii proizvodstva na TSBP, 1957 (Summary of the technical level of production in pulp and paper enterprises)//RGAE. F. 9480. Op. 2. D. 40.

71. Perechen` stroitel`stva ustanovok po nepreryvnoi varke i nepreryvnomu gidrolizu, 1953 – 1955 gg. (List of facilities for continuous pulp cooking and continuous hydrolysis)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 1. D. 24.

72. Pis`mo glavnogo inzhenera Malyshkina ministru bumazhnoi i derevoobrabatuvaiushchi promyshlennosti K.A. Veinovu, 1953 god (Letter by the engineer-in-chief Malyshkin to the Minister of Paper and Timber Industry K.A. Veinov, 1953)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 1. D. 25. L. 1.

73. Otchet ob osvoenii i eksperimental`nukh ispytaniakh opytnoi ustanovki dli nepreryvnoi varki (Report on implementing and experiments on continuous pulp cooking)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 4. D. 331. L. 4, 8.

74. The ‘thaw’ allowed some criticism of many Soviet realities. In 1956, the Soviet writer Vladimir Dudintsev published his well-known Not by Bread Alone, the story of engineer Lopatkin, who tried to launch the production of pipes for the chemical industry, an unprecedented invention, but one that faced hostility and an impenetrable bureaucracy. The book contained reflections on Soviet industry and implied that engineers were hostile towards new ideas. See Dudintsev, Not by Bread Alone.

75. Barber et al., “The Structure,” 24.

76. Stenografichesky otchet 28 sessii Uchenogo soveta instituta o rezultatakh eksperimental`nykh rabot, provedennykh v 1955–56 gg. na Svetogorskoi ustanovke dlia nepreryvnoi varki sulfitnoi tselliulozy (Minutes of the 28th session of the Scientific Council of the Institute on the results of the experimental scientific research, conducted in 1955–56 on the Svetogosrky` digester for continuous cooking of sulphite pulp//RGANTD SPb. F. 303. Op. 13. D. 281. L. 17.

77. Ibid., 47.

78. Control and measuring instruments were a constant problem at the plant. The local archive is full of complaints of engineers on that there were not instruments available and also that there was a lack of specialists in this field. As a result, the plant initiated special courses in a local technical school to train graduates with relevant expertise. Otchet o rabote Svetogorskogo vechernego tselliulozno-bumazhnogo tekhmikuma (Report on the activities of Svetogorsky pulp and paper technical school)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 1. D. 18. L. 4.

79. M. Serdiukov, M. Popov, A. Vasilenko. Dokladnaya zapiska po voprosu o nepreryvnoi varke tsellulozy na Svetogorskom ZBK Ministerstva bumazhnoi i derevoobrabatyvaiushchei promyshlennosti, 1956 god (Report on continuous pulp cooking in the Svetogorsk pulp and paper plant of the Ministry of Paper and Wood Processing Industry prepared by M. Serdiukov, M. Popov, A. Vasilenko)//RGAE. F. 9480. Op. 2. D. 146. L. 5–6.

80. The reason why a foreign digester was set in the Marisky plant seems to be unclear. It is probable that the Ministry considered that expensive and valuable techniques should be delivered into inner parts of the country, so not installed in the border region.

81. Ibid., 7.

82. Pis`mo zampreda Gostekhniki Y. Maksareva v SM SSSR, 14.3.56 (Letter of the vice director of Gostekhnika Y. Maksarev to the Council of Ministers of the USSR, 14th March 1956)//RGAE. F. 9480. Оp. 2. D. 146. L. 9.

83. Protokoly i reshchenia rasshirennogo zasedania Tekhnicheskogo soveta po nepreryvnoi varke, 31.05.1955 (Protocols and decisions of the extended meeting of the Technical council on continuous cooking, 31st May 1955)//LOGAV. F. R-180. Op. 4. D. 332. L. 38.

84. This number of decrees is probable, although I found only five. The sum spent for the project might also be true, but the sources use in this article show it to be much lesser. This letter saying about the results of the meeting does not provide more detailed data, other than final figures.

85. Pis`mo zampreda Gostekhniki U. Maksareva v SM SSSR, 14 marta 1956 goda (Letter of the vice-director of Gostekhnika Y. Maksarev to the Council of Ministers of the USSR, 14th March 1956)//RGAE. F. 9480. Op. 2. D. 146. L. 9.

86. Stenografichesky otchet 28 sessii Uchenogo soveta instituta o rezultatakh eksperimental`nykh rabot, provedennykh v 1955–56 gg. na Svetogorskoi ustanovke dlia nepreryvnoi varki sulfitnoi tselliulozy (Minutes of the 28th session of the Scientific Council of the Institute on the results of the experimental scientific research, conducted in 1955–56 on the Svetogosrky` digester for continuous cooking of sulphite pulp//RGANTD SPb. F. 303. Op. 13. D. 281. L. 44.

87. Ibid., 87.

88. Ibid., 99.

89. Ibid., 101.

90. Ibid., 121.

91. This might be also explained by Zherebov’s advanced age (in 1956 he was already 93 years old) and his devotion to highly theoretical work.

92. Ibid., 127.

93. Sekretariu Karasnogvardeiskogo raionnogo komiteta KPSS Kazakovu M.M. (A Letter to the secretary of the committee of Krasnogvardeisky region M.M. Kazakov)//RGANTD Samara. F. 613. Op.1–1. D. 171. L.102.

94. Ibid., 196.

95. Ibid., 171.

96. Berliner, Soviet Industry, 212–3.

97. Ibid., 216.

98. This project never materialized, however.

99. Dokladnaya zapiska ministru po voprosu osvoenoia opytnoi ustanovki dlia skoroi nepreryvnoi varki na Svetogorskom TsBK (Note to the Minister on the question of experimental digester for quick continuous cooking in Svetogorsk)//RGANTD SPb. F. 303. Op. 12. D. 267. L. 5, 14.

100. Ibid., 30.

101. Gregory and Stuart, Soviet and Post-Soviet, 379.

102. More on modernization and Khrushchev see, for example, in Modernization in Russia.

103. Parrott, Politics and Technology.

104. In 1955, for example, the Soviet leadership signed an agreement with Finland on scientific–technical cooperation. See more on the history of the Committee in Temirbulatova, Gosudarstvennyi komitet.

105. See more in Autio-Sarasmo, ‘Knowledge’

106. Perepiska s Otdelom vneshnikh snosheni Ministerstva o naucho-technicheskom sotrudnichestve s kapitalisticheskimi stranami (Correspondence with the Department on external affairs of the Ministry on scientific-technical cooperation with capitalist countries)//RGANTD SPb. F. 303. Op. 13. D. 339. L. 27–28.

107. Nepreryvnaya varka sulfatnoi tselliulozy i polutselluilozy, M., 1958.

108. The destiny of reports was different. Most of them were put into archives and only few published in newspapers and special booklets.

109. Rekomendatsii nauchno-tekhnicheskogo soveshchiania po voprosu uluchshenia kachestva sul`fitnoi viskoznoi tsellulozy, sozvannogo GKNT SM SSSR i NTO bumazhnoi i derevopererabatyvaiuchshei promyshlennosti, 1960 g. (Recommendations of scientific–technical meeting on improving the quality of sulphite viscose pulp held by the State Committee on Science and Technology of the USSR and scientific–technical society of paper and timber industry)//GARF. F. 409. Op. 1. D. 1190. L. 140.

110. Osanov, “Metod skoroi nepreruvnoi varki,” 47.

111. Nepenin, Varka sul`fatnoi tsellulozy, 17.

112. Josephson, “War on Nature,” 25.

113. Meropriyatiya po uluchsheniu dorozhnogo stroitel`stva v lespromkhozakh kombinata “Zapkarelles”//NARK. F. R-2979. Op. 1. D. 44/428. L. 1–2.

114. Tarasiuk, Osvoenie varochnogo apparata Pandia, 3.

115. Ibid., 22.

116. In the USSR, the production of pulp was (in 1000 tons per year) 592 in 1940, 2282 in 1960, 5110 in 1970. The USSR was among the five largest producers of pulp in the world. See Alekhin ‘Tselliulozno-bumazhnaya promyshellnost’.

117. Alekseev, ‘Sozdatel` metoda nepreryvnoi varki,’ 78.

118. Maliutin, ‘Sovremennoe konstruktivnoe reshchenie’, 82.

119. Hanson, The Comparative Economics, 1.

120. The authors of a recent monumental book on the history of pulp and paper industry issued in Russian, essentially the only one in existence, argues that Zherebov’s ideawas not implemented because of insufficiently organized machinery industry and a lack of required construction materials. The problems, however, seem to be more general, covering resource supply and knowledge circulation. See Istoriya tselluilozno-bumazhnoi promyshlennosti.