NEW METHODOLOGIES AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE INTELLIGENT USE OF ENERGY IN INDUSTRIAL AND CIVIL APPLICATIONS

After a historical survey of the diffusion of methodologies and techni ques of systems analysis in engineering applications, a series of spec ific examples is reported, concerning the activities of the Italian Na tional Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment (ENEA). In the field of knowledge-based computer aids for plant operators, tw o applications are described, concerning, respectively, a primary alum inium production plant (aluminium smelter) and a plant which recovers energy from civil waste. About dynamic modelling of buildings, a metho d is described, which has been tested both in inhabited buildings and in an empty experimental house. Finally, a peculiar ENEA's experience is illustrated, which regards the development of distributed informati on systems for networks of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) i n industrial districts, with the aim of improving logistic and manufac turing processes and of protecting the environment.