Extended space method for parameter identifiability of DAE systems

•An extended space method is proposed to analyze the identifiability of DAE systems.•The algebraic and differential variables can be decoupled to avoid of the problem encountered by using traditional DA approach.•Theoretical analysis proves the effectiveness of the proposed method

Mathematical models of physical systems often have parameters that must be identified from physical data. This makes the analysis of the parameter identifiability of the given model system an essential prerequisite. Thus far, several methods have been proposed for analyzing the parameter identifiability of ordinary differential equation (ODE) systems. But, to the best of our knowledge, the parameter identifiability of differential algebraic equation (DAE) systems has scarcely been analyzed as a specific topic. Traditional differential algebraic (DA) methods developed for ODE systems are often applied directly on DAE systems. These methods, however, are not always applicable, e.g., when the prime ideal condition is not satisfied by a DAE system. In this paper, we propose a novel method to analyze the identifiability of DAE systems, based on the concept of space extension, through which the algebraic and differential variables can be decoupled. Furthermore, an inherent, low-dimensional, regular ODE system can be obtained, which is the external equivalent of the original DAE system. Subsequently, the differential algebraic (DA) method can then be used to analyze the identifiability of the low-dimension ODE system. Theoretical analysis is also presented for the proposed method. Two examples, including a simplified interaction model and an isothermal reactor system, are presented to illustrate the detailed steps and effectiveness of the proposed method.