Deterioration diagnosis apparatus for exhaust gas purification apparatus

A deterioration diagnosis apparatus for use in an exhaust gas purification apparatus of an internal combustion engine capable of operating in a lean-burn mode,

• the internal combustion engine which comprises:
• a fuel injection valve configured to supply a fuel into a cylinder of the internal combustion engine;
• and
• an intake throttle valve provided in an intake pipe of the internal combustion engine,
• the exhaust gas purification apparatus which comprises:
• a first exhaust gas purification device provided in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine, the first exhaust gas purification device comprising a hydrogen production catalyst promotes a water gas shift reaction using a reducing agent produced by combustion of an air-fuel mixture when the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture is equal to a predetermined rich air-fuel ratio that is lower than a theoretical air-fuel ratio;
• a second exhaust gas purification device provided in the exhaust passage downstream of said first exhaust gas purification device, the second exhaust gas purification device comprising a selective catalytic reduction catalyst that stores oxygen in exhaust gas when the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is a lean air-fuel ratio higher than the theoretical air fuel ratio and desorbs oxygen stored therein when the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is lower than the theoretical air-fuel ratio;
• a first air-fuel ratio sensor that measures a physical quantity correlating with the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing into said second exhaust gas purification device;
• and
• a second air-fuel ratio sensor that measures a physical quantity correlating with the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing out of said second exhaust gas purification device,
• the deterioration diagnosis apparatus comprising:
• a controller comprising at least one processor,
• said controller is configured to receive signals from said first air-fuel ratio sensor, and said second air-fuel sensor;
• said controller is configured to control said fuel injection valve said intake throttle valve, said first exhaust gas purification device, and said second exhaust gas purification device;
• said controller is configured to start an induction process, which is a process of inducing a water gas shift reaction in said first exhaust gas purification device, when the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture is a lean air-fuel ratio by increasing a target fuel injection quantity of the fuel injection valve and/or decreasing a degree of opening of the intake throttle valve in such a way as to change the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture to said predetermined rich-air fuel ratio;
• said controller is configured to terminate said induction process when the integrated value of the quantity of injected fuel over a period through which the water gas shift reaction is brought about in said first exhaust gas purification device by said induction process reaches a specific quantity;
• said controller is configured to integrate a sensor output difference defined as a difference between the measurement value of said first air-fuel ratio sensor and the measurement value of said second air-fuel ratio sensor over the period through which said induction process is performed to obtain an integrated sensor output difference defined as the sum total of the sensor output difference over the period through which said induction process is performed;
• said controller is configured to diagnose deterioration of said second exhaust gas purification device using the integrated sensor output difference as a parameter;
• said controller is configured to obtain the degree of deterioration of said hydrogen production catalyst and control the fuel injection valve and/or the intake throttle valve in such a way as to make the quantity of the reducing agent supplied to said first exhaust gas purification device during the period through which said induction process is performed larger when the degree of deterioration obtained is high than when the degree of deterioration obtained is low.