Patent ID: 7357221

Claim:
An exhaust gas muffler for an internal combustion engine, comprising: a housing having an inlet for receiving exhaust gas from said internal combustion engine, an outlet, and a reaction zone, wherein exhaust gas in said housing flows through said reaction zone and circulates at least partially in said reaction zone, wherein exhaust gas entering said reaction zone is adapted to be heated so that a chemical conversion of said exhaust gas is adapted to take place, wherein said reaction zone is delimited by a swirl generator and a cylinder, wherein said swirl generator is provided for producing the circulating flow, wherein said swirl generator is provided with at least one feed channel that opens tangentially into said reaction zone, wherein exhaust gas in said swirl generator flows through said at least one feed channel, further wherein said at least one feed channel opens tangentially into said reaction zone such that in said reaction zone, said exhaust gas forms an annular flow, wherein said annular flow is such that said exhaust gas initially flows along a wall of said cylinder and is then deflected such that said exhaust gas then flows back in the interior of the cylinder, in a direction opposite to the flow of said exhaust gas along the wall of said cylinder, toward where said at least one feed channel opens into said cylinder.