Small-volume NOx adsorber

An exhaust system for an internal-combustion engine, comprising:

• an exhaust pipe connecting combustion chambers of the internal-combustion engine to an environment;
• and
• components for converting pollutants contained in an exhaust gas generated by the internal-combustion engine disposed in said exhaust pipe, said components including a support body having an adsorber material for adsorbing nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas generated in the combustion chambers of the internal-combustion engine, all the combustion chambers together having a combustion-chamber volume and said support body further having a support body structure carrying said adsorber material and having a volume, said volume of said support body structure is less than 75% of the combustion-chamber volume, said support body disposed immediately downstream of the internal combustion engine as seen in a direction of flow of the exhaust gas.

A method of operating an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine, which comprises the step of:

• regenerating discontinuously a support body having an adsorber material for adsorbing nitrogen oxides and the discontinuous regeneration takes place within a time of less than 5 seconds.