Patent ID: 7677029

Claim:
A regeneration controller for regenerating an exhaust purification apparatus that is arranged in an exhaust passage for an internal combustion engine, wherein the exhaust purification apparatus includes an upstream purification mechanism and a downstream purification mechanism that are arranged in the exhaust passage, the regeneration controller comprising: a difference detector for detecting at least one of a difference in exhaust pressure and a difference in exhaust temperature between an upstream location and a downstream location of the downstream purification mechanism; a calculation section for calculating an estimated accumulation amount of particulate matter in the exhaust purification apparatus, wherein the estimated accumulation amount of particulate matter is calculated using at least an exhaust temperature taken at the downstream location of the downstream purification mechanism; a heating control section for heating the exhaust purification apparatus to eliminate the particulate matter from the exhaust purification apparatus when the estimated accumulation amount is greater than a reference accumulation amount; and a replacement control section for replacing the estimated accumulation amount with a greater estimated accumulation amount when the estimated accumulation amount falls within a replacement determination reference range due to the heating and the at least one difference is greater than a replacement reference value.