New methods for structural and functional analysis of complex processes

The selection of the structure of a controller in large scale industry processes requires extensive process knowledge. The aim of this paper is to present methods which help designers to comprehend a process by representing structural and functional relationships from actuators and process disturbances to measured or estimated variables. This paper describes similarities between brain connectivity theory and interaction analysis in multivariable processes. Results from both theories are combined to create new methods for the analysis of industry processes. The developed methods are applied to an illustrative example.