Well known in the pipeline industry for innovative and often groundbreaking corrosion control solutions, Wayne Burns keeps up by consistently seeking out new associations and partnerships in corrosion control worldwide.

“New technology in the pipeline construction and corrosion management industry is still mostly developed in the traditional oil and gas centres of North America and Europe,” says Mr Burns. “And it’s there that we develop our associations and bring back ideas, technology and solutions.”

Pipe handling

Some years ago, it was suggested that if damage to steel pipes during shipping and handling could be reduced, there would be fewer service-life issues with corrosion. Mr Burns explained that he wanted to focus on better methodology. Soon afterwards Anode partnered with German vacuum pipe-lifting manufacturer Schoenbeck to bring low impact, slingless lifting to Australia.

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The decision was a calculated risk. Preventing long-term corrosion issues through eliminating handling damage potentially impacts Anode’s core cathodic protection (CP) services, but the company’s commitment to innovation and improvement won out.

The excavator-mounted vacuum pipe-lifting system has been a huge hit not only minimising damage but improving safety and reducing costs.

“The product has brought us closer to construction contractors and this has fed through into more opportunities for established products,” says Mr Burns. “It has also focused them on our engineering capabilities.”

Remote power

With the huge expansion of mining and CSG, the demand for electrical power in remote locations of Australia has surged. While solar-powered systems have long been an Anode offering, they are not the only solution. Where natural or CSG is available, thermoelectric generation (TEG) is often a better remote power option.

Canada’s Global Thermoelectric has recently strengthened its relationship with Anode to provide TEG and hybrid TEG power solutions for remote locations throughout Australia.

“Anode’s engineering teams will be able to turnkey engineer best-fit solutions for customers. This will undoubtedly extend Anode’s business outside of the CP market, as the very high reliability of TEGs makes them perfect for remote telemetry, SCADA systems and for telecommunications applications,” says Mr Burns. “The availability of intrinsically safe certified models also opens up opportunities in the offshore oil and gas sector.”

Electrical engineering alliance

Anode also provides solutions for electrical earthing and related specialised techniques. This is complemented by an alliance with New Zealand’s Linetech, an electrical engineering design house specialising in electrical induced voltage and remediation.

Supply chain

The Anode sales development team has identified over 13,000 km of pipelines to be constructed in Australia over the next two years. Staying on top of this will be a challenge for any business and, typically, Mr Burns has been looking for solutions.

“With big investment in overseas-sourced products, simply getting orders to site on time is a critical challenge to any operation. Knowing how things work in the freight and logistics business around the world can make all the difference,” he says. To meet these challenges Anode has appointed an experienced internal-freight co-ordinator, and teamed up with a world-class freight forwarder.

Looking into the future, Mr Burns is happy to have his children playing important roles in the firm. Daughter Gayle is the Sales Manager, while son Stuart is part of the engineering team. It looks like the name Burns will continue in the corrosion and pipeline industry, not that Wayne is planning to take a back seat anytime soon.