Patent ID: 7021048

Claim:
A method of operating a combination emission abatement assembly having a NO x trap and a soot particulate filter, the method comprising the steps of: determining if regeneration of the NO x trap is to be performed and generating a regenerate-trap signal in response thereto, operating a fuel reformer so as to produce and advance a reformate gas in the form of hydrogen-rich gas to the NO x trap in response to generation of the regenerate-trap signal, determining if regeneration of the soot particulate filter is to be performed and generating a regenerate-filter signal in response thereto, and operating the fuel reformer so as to produce and advance a reformate gas in the form of hydrogen-rich gas to the soot particulate filter in response to generation of the regenerate-filter signal, the fuel reformer being separate from the NO x trap and the soot particulate filter such that the fuel reformer is not integrated into the NO x trap and not integrated into the soot particulate filter.