Patent ID: 8015803

Claim:
An operating method for a system, the system comprising a reformer, the reformer having a reformate mode in which hydrocarbon-containing fuel is converted by reforming to a hydrogen-rich reformate gas, and an internal combustion engine with an exhaust gas system with an catalytic exhaust gas aftertreatment device, the catalytic exhaust gas aftertreatment device being acted upon by gas generated in the reformer so as to reach a catalytic converter light-off temperature more rapidly during a cold start of the system, comprising the acts of: initially operating the reformer, after its own starting phase, with a lean fuel/air mixture in a lean-burn mode; operating the internal-combustion engine during the reformer operation in the lean-burn mode such that combustible constituents of the exhaust gas of the internal-combustion engine react with hot gas generated by the reformer and supplied upstream of the exhaust gas aftertreatment device; and guiding a cumulative exhaust gas flow consisting of the gas generated in the reformer and the exhaust gas of the internal-combustion engine guided through a catalytic converter of the catalytic exhaust gas aftertreatment device, wherein the cumulative exhaust gas flow has essentially a composition of an exhaust gas generated from the combustion of a stoichiometric fuel/air mixture.