Patent ID: 7766542

Claim:
An apparatus for determining a catalyst bed temperature, the apparatus comprising: an energy balance module configured to determine a first fluid enthalpy value of a fluid upstream of a first catalytic component; a fueling module configured to determine an amount of unburned hydrocarbons in the fluid available for combustion on the first catalytic component; a catalyst combustion module configured to calculate a net heat generation within the first catalytic component based on the amount of unburned hydrocarbons in the fluid available for combustion on the first catalytic component and the first fluid enthalpy value, the catalyst combustion module being communicable in data receiving communication with the energy balance module and fueling module; a peak temperature module configured to determine a thermal driving force based on the net heat generation, the peak temperature module being communicable in data receiving communication with the catalyst combustion module; and a bed temperature module configured to calculate a current bed temperature of the first catalytic component based on the thermal driving force, a previous bed temperature of the first catalytic component, and a predicted time constant of the thermal response of the first catalytic component, the bed temperature module being communicable in data receiving communication with the peak temperature module.