Apparatus for removing carbon particles from exhaust gas from internal combustion engine

Claim 1

Apparatus for removing particulate emissions from exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine which apparatus comprises: (a) filter mounted on an exhaust pipe of the engine, said filter comprising a body defining a filter chamber and a filter element mounted within said filter chamber for collecting carbon particles constituting the particulate emissions; (b) means for dispersing a solution of catalyst to the exhaust gas in said filter chamber at a position upstream of said filter element to cause the oxidation of the carbon particles collected in said filter element to remove them therefrom, said dispersing means including a source of supply of said catalyst solution, means connected to said supply source for controlling the flow of said catalyst solution, means for detecting the amount of the carbon particles collected in said filter element to feed a first detection signal when said amount of the carbon particles reaches a predetermined level, means for detecting the temperature of the exhaust gas in said filter chamber to feed a second detection signal until said temperature of the exhaust gas reaches a predetermined level; (c) means for supplying an auxiliary fuel to the exhaust gas in said filter chamber at a position upstream of said filter element, said auxiliary fuel supply means being operable in response to said second detection signal for supplying said auxiliary fuel to said flow control means, and said flow control means being operable in response to said first detection signal for feeding a mixture of the catalyst solution and the auxiliary fuel to said filter chamber; and (d) ignition means mounted within said filter chamber adjacent to and upstream of said filter element for igniting said auxiliary fuel fed to said filter chamber to increase the temperature of the exhaust gas.