Patent ID: 7500357

Claim:
A system for assisting regeneration of a storage/release NOx trap integrated in an exhaust line of a motor vehicle diesel engine, the system comprising gas admission means for admitting gas into the engine, means for injecting fuel into the cylinders thereof in the form of at least pilot and main injections, and means for controlling at least one of (i) said gas admission means and (ii) said fuel injection means for periodically switching the engine between a lean mixture standard operating mode in which NOx is stored in the trap and a rich mixture regeneration operating mode in which NOx is released from the trap and the trap is regenerated, wherein, in the rich-mixture regeneration operating mode, the injection means are suitable for implementing at least two pilot injections triggered in a crankshaft angle range from approximately 50° to approximately 5° ahead of the top dead centre point of the cylinder concerned, and the main injection is triggered in an undercalibrated range up to a crankshaft angle of approximately 35° after the top dead centre point, wherein the control means are adapted to control at least one of (i) the gas admission means and (ii) the fuel injection means in accordance with the standard and regeneration modes of operation for engine loads below a predetermined threshold value.