Apparatus and method for regenerating a particulate filter of an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine

A method of regenerating a soot filter comprising the steps of:

• advancing hydrogen gas and an exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine into contact with a catalyst,
• generating heat from a reaction between the hydrogen gas and the exhaust gas in the presence of the catalyst, and
• transferring the heat downstream to the soot filter to ignite soot trapped in the soot filter.

A method of regenerating a particulate carbon-based soot filter of a diesel engine, the method comprising the steps of:

• operating a fuel reformer to produce a reformate gas,
• advancing the reformate gas and an exhaust gas from the diesel engine through an oxidation catalyst to generate an exothermic reaction, and
• heating the soot filter with heat from the exothermic reaction to a sufficient temperature to ignite soot particulates trapped in the soot filter which is positioned downstream from the catalyst.

An emission abatement assembly, comprising:

• a fuel reformer configured to reform hydrocarbon fuel into a reformate gas,
• a catalyst configured to catalyze an exothermic oxidation reaction between the reformate gas and a gaseous component comprising oxygen, and
• a soot filter positioned downstream of the catalyst, wherein heat generated by the exothermic oxidation reaction is transferred to the soot filter.