With the introduction of monitoring technologies, process computers and Web services in industrial facilities, the foundation for electrolytic process automation has been set. Recently designed facilities have substantially improved plant layouts, automated cathode processing and copper harvesting. Despite these advancements, only limited progress has been made on the electric current distribution of the process. Lately, a number of proposals focused on preventing short circuits and balancing cathode currents have emerged. Among these are the AZSA intercell, the Outokumpu double contact, and the Optibar InterCell Plus. Although these intercell bars are clearly superior to the conventional bar, few or conflicting data are available about their merits relative to each other. Consequently, selection of the best intercell bar for most applications is accompanied by uncertainty, which can lead to less than optimum results. A critical evaluation of the performance of the aforementioned bars on the basis of their application is provided, thereby establishing the framework and guidelines for the selection of the best bar for each application.
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