Patent ID: 8156737

Claim:
A system comprising: an electrical heater comprising N zones, wherein N is an integer greater than one; a particulate matter (PM) filter that is arranged one of adjacent to and in contact with said electrical heater, wherein said PM filter comprises N longitudinal portions that each extend along a length of said PM filter, and wherein said N portions of said PM filter are associated with said N zones of said electrical heater, respectively; and a control module that selectively increases an exhaust gas temperature of an engine to a first temperature using one of (i) a fuel burner and (ii) a catalytic oxidizer with post-combustion fuel injection, and that initiates regeneration in one of said N longitudinal portions of said PM filter using said electrical heater while said exhaust gas temperature is above said first temperature, wherein said first temperature is greater than a maximum exhaust gas temperature at said PM filter during normal operation of said engine and is less than an oxidation temperature of said PM.