Patent ID: 8793981

Claim:
A method of operating a fuel processor to produce a product stream and regenerating a particulate filter which accumulates carbon from said product stream, said method comprising: (a supplying oxidant and fuel reactants to said fuel processor and controlling an equivalence ratio of said reactants supplied to said fuel processor, to produce a product stream that is directed to flow through said particulate filter; (b) predicting, at least periodically, a value of a parameter indicative of carbon accumulation in said particulate filter during operation of said fuel processor as a function of a predicted carbon loading rate over a period of time; (c) determining when said predicted value of said parameter meets a first threshold value; and (d) adjusting said equivalence ratio from a normal operating equivalence ratio value to a filter regeneration equivalence ratio value, when said predicted value of said parameter meets said first threshold value, so that said particulate filter is at least partially regenerated.