Method and device for operating an internal combustion engine

Abstract

A method and device for operating an internal combustion engine, which diagnose and/or adapt the exhaust-gas recirculation system for, in particular, multibranch internal combustion engines. In this context, the internal combustion engine includes at least one adsorption catalyst in at least one exhaust branch. In addition, at least one exhaust-gas recirculation duct is provided, which is equipped with an exhaust-gas recirculation valve and feeds exhaust gas from the at least one exhaust branch back into at least one air-supply duct, a level of pollutant stored in the at least one adsorption catalyst being ascertained in a first operating state of the internal combustion engine when the exhaust-gas recirculation valve is at least partially open, so that a first value for the pollutant level is produced. In a second operating state of the internal combustion engine, a second value for the pollutant level in the at least one adsorption catalyst is ascertained when exhaust-gas recirculation valve is closed. The first value of the pollutant level is compared to the second value of the pollutant level. A diagnosis and/or an adaptation of an exhaust-gas recirculation system formed by the at least one exhaust-gas recirculation duct, along with its exhaust-gas recirculation valve and its drive circuit, is carried out as a function of the comparison result.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.