Patent ID: 7621981

Claim:
An apparatus for dispersing heat in a particulate filter, the apparatus comprising: a particulate filter having a plurality of channels through which an exhaust stream is flowable, the plurality of channels comprising inlet channels each being open at an inlet end of the filter and closed at an outlet end of the filter and outlet channels each being closed at the inlet end of the filter and open at the outlet end of the filter, wherein the closed outlet end of each of the inlet channels is closed via an end cap, and wherein the particulate filter comprises a high risk portion, wherein the high risk portion comprises a central shape with a cross-sectional area at the rear of the particulate filter of at least ten percent of the cross-sectional area of the particulate filter, and axially positioned from the back of the particulate filter forward to at least the rear one-sixth of the particulate filter; and a plurality of thermal conduits each positioned within a respective one of the plurality of inlet channels and having thermal conductivity greater than thermal conductivity of a particulate filter substrate, each thermal conduit extending axially along at least the portion of the respective inlet channel within the high risk portion of the particulate filter, each thermal conduit being thermally coupled to the end cap closing the respective inlet channel, and each thermal conduit having a cross-sectional area less than a cross-sectional area of the respective inlet channel such that the thermal conduits do not prevent exhaust flow through the inlet channels; wherein the thermal conduits are configured to thermally connect the high risk portion of a particulate filter with an ambient environment.