Device and method for filtering internal combustion engine exhaust gases and vehicle equipped with such a device

Method of filtering the exhaust gasses of an internal combustion engine, the method comprising the acts of:

• providing an exhaust gas outlet from one of an exhaust silencer box and an exhaust manifold connectible to the internal combustion engine;
• receiving the exhaust gasses from the outlet of said one of the exhaust silencer box and the exhaust manifold, while simultaneously receiving an ambient air flow that does not come off the exhaust silencer box or exhaust manifold, said ambient air flow lowering a temperature of the received exhaust gasses;
• drawing the exhaust gasses and the ambient air flow through a filtering chamber equipped with an electrostatic filter;
• and
• filtering the mixture of the exhaust gasses and ambient air flow via a filter for coarse solid particles and droplets, placed upstream of the electrostatic filter.

A motor vehicle, comprising:

• an internal combustion engine which outputs exhaust gasses;
• and
• a device for filtering said exhaust gasses, said device comprising:
• an electrostatic filtering chamber (10) equipped with electrostatic filtering means (20), a line (13) for supplying exhaust gasses into the filtering chamber (10), in fluid communication with a inlet (11) of the filtering chamber (10), at one of the ends of the supply line (13), the other end of the supply line (13) having an inlet adapted to allow the penetration of the exhaust gasses from an outlet of one of an exhaust silencer box and an exhaust manifold connectable to the internal combustion engine, while allowing the penetration of a flow of ambient air that does not come off the exhaust silencer box or exhaust manifold and which is intended for lowering the temperature of the exhaust gasses, wherein an intake unit (16), intended for drawing in the exhaust gasses and the air flow is mounted downstream of an outlet (12) of the filtering chamber (10) and in fluid communication with this outlet (12), in order to allow the mixture of exhaust gasses and air to pass into the said filtering chamber (10) and to reject the filtered gasses into the environment, and further wherein a filter (19) for coarse solid particles and droplets derived from the mixture is mounted in the filtering chamber (10), upstream of the electrostatic filtering means (20).