Aluminum is an abundant metal in the Earth’s crust and has become widely used in a large diversity of applications also due to its desirable physical-chemical properties. The usage of aluminum has increased enormously in recent years, and in the foreseeable future the demand for aluminum products is expected to increase even more, at a rate of 4% per year in the next 5 years, and this figure will certainly increase after that. This increase is due not only to...