A particulate filter for trapping the particulate matter which is contained in the exhaust gas is provided inside an engine exhaust passage. Additional fuel is secondarily injected from a fuel injector in an engine expansion stroke or exhaust stroke or hydrocarbons are secondarily added from an addition valve which is provided upstream of the particulate filter in the exhaust pipe. An amount of hydrocarbons which come from the fuel injector or addition valve and then adhere in the form of a liquid to the inflow end of the particulate filter, and an amount of particulate matter which reaches the inflow end of the particulate filter are respectively estimated. A degree of clogging at the inflow end of the particulate filter is estimated based on the amount of hydrocarbons and the amount of particulate matter.

A method of calculating an ammonia (NH3) mass generated in a lean NOx trap (LNT) of an exhaust purification device includes sequentially calculating a NH3 mass flow at a downstream of each slice from a first slice to an n-th slice, and integrating the NH3 mass flow at the downstream of the n-th slice over a predetermined time, wherein the calculation of the NH3 mass flow at the downstream of the i-th slice comprises calculating a NH3 mass flow flowing into the i-th slice, calculating a NH3 mass flow generated at the i-th slice, and adding the NH3 mass flow generated at the i-th slice to a value obtained by subtracting the NH3 mass flow used to reduce the NOx and the O2 at the i-th slice from the NH3 mass flow flowing into the i-th slice.

A method for controlling an internal combustion engine with a catalytic converter for exhaust-gas aftertreatment, comprising specification of a target fill level profile is proposed, which fluctuates between an upper threshold value and a lower threshold value, of at least one exhaust-gas component that can be stored in the catalytic converter, determination of a present fill level of the at least one exhaust-gas component in the catalytic converter on the basis of a theoretical catalytic converter model, and control of the internal combustion engine so as to generate an exhaust gas with a target concentration of the at least one exhaust-gas component such that a deviation between the present fill level and the present target fill level in accordance with the target fill level profile is reduced. A processing unit and a computer program product for carrying out a method of said type, and a vehicle which is configured for carrying out the method, are likewise proposed.

A catalyst deterioration detection device is provided to detect deterioration of a catalyst provided in an exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine. The catalyst deterioration detection device includes a storage device and processing circuitry. The storage device stores map data specifying a mapping that uses time series data of an excess amount variable in a first predetermined period and time series data of a downstream detection variable in a second predetermined period as inputs to output a deterioration level variable. The processing circuitry executes an acquisition process that acquires data, a deterioration level variable calculation process that calculates a deterioration level variable of the catalyst based on an output of the mapping using the data acquired by the acquisition process as an input. The map data includes data that is learned through machine learning.

A method for estimating a quality of reductant in an engine aftertreatment system for an engine using a virtual sensor, the method comprising: determining whether an enablement condition is met, wherein the enablement condition is one or more of: a reductant fill condition determined based on data received from one or more float sensors associated with the engine; a machine start condition determined based on machine speed data obtained from a speed sensor associated with the engine; and/or a rationality check condition determined based on data associated with a fault of one or more sensors associated with the engine; upon determining that the enablement condition is met, receiving NOx measurement data obtained from at least one NOx sensor; generating a reductant quality value based on the NOx measurement data; and outputting a reductant quality determination based on the reductant quality value.

Systems and methods for controlling a hybrid system. For example, a computer-implemented method includes determining a system temperature zone of the aftertreatment system as being in: a first temperature zone below a first temperature threshold, a second temperature zone from the first temperature threshold to a second temperature threshold, or a third temperature zone above the second temperature threshold; determining a power demand corresponding to the operation of the hybrid system as being in: a first power demand zone if the power demand is below a power threshold, or a second power demand zone if the power demand is equal to or greater than the power threshold; and determining a control strategy based at least in part on the determined system temperature zone and the determined power demand.

A method for estimating a quality of reductant in an engine aftertreatment system for an engine using a virtual sensor, the method comprising: determining whether an enablement condition is met, wherein the enablement condition is one or more of: a reductant fill condition determined based on data received from one or more float sensors associated with the engine; a machine start condition determined based on machine speed data obtained from a speed sensor associated with the engine; and/or a rationality check condition determined based on data associated with a fault of one or more sensors associated with the engine; upon determining that the enablement condition is met, receiving NOx measurement data obtained from at least one NOx sensor; generating a reductant quality value based on the NOx measurement data; and outputting a reductant quality determination based on the reductant quality value.

Methods and systems are provided for model-based determination of a temperature distribution of an exhaust aftertreatment system of a vehicle. A power demand from a first component of the aftertreatment system is measure, a heat transfer into the first component of the aftertreatment system based on power demand of the first component and a configurable emissivity value of the exhaust gas is determined, and the temperature of the first component based on the calculated heat transfer is calculated.

A method for controlling an internal combustion engine with a catalytic converter for exhaust-gas aftertreatment, comprising specification of a target fill level profile is proposed, which fluctuates between an upper threshold value and a lower threshold value, of at least one exhaust-gas component that can be stored in the catalytic converter, determination of a present fill level of the at least one exhaust-gas component in the catalytic converter on the basis of a theoretical catalytic converter model, and control of the internal combustion engine so as to generate an exhaust gas with a target concentration of the at least one exhaust-gas component such that a deviation between the present fill level and the present target fill level in accordance with the target fill level profile is reduced. A processing unit and a computer program product for carrying out a method of said type, and a vehicle which is configured for carrying out the method, are likewise proposed.

A method for reducing deposits related to a reduction agent (RA) in a portion of an exhaust aftertreatment system (EAS) of an internal combustion engine (ICE) and comprising an injector for injecting the RA into said EAS, said portion located downstream of said injector, as seen in an intended direction of flow of exhaust gas in said EAS, said method comprising: identifying for said ICE, a future operating sequence (FOS) comprising a first temporal portion (t.sub.1) and a second temporal portion (t.sub.2) subsequent to t.sub.1, confirming that said FOS is suitable for reducing deposits and that said ICE operates in accordance with said FOS, in response to said confirming being affirmative, injecting a first dosage (d.sub.1) of RA into said EAS during at least a part of said t.sub.1 and injecting a second dosage (d.sub.2) of RA smaller than d.sub.1 into said EAS during at least a part of t.sub.2.