Patent ID: 7484503

Claim:
A method for regenerating a diesel particulate filter in the exhaust system of an engine, the method comprising: issuing a request to regenerate the filter to reduce the amount of trapped particulate matter in the device to a target amount; in response to the request, operating the engine to begin a process of conditioning exhaust for regenerating the filter, the process comprising a warming phase that occurs prior to initiation of regeneration and a heating phase during which regeneration can occur; during the process, evaluating data related to the warming phase and the heating phase; and operating the engine to terminate the process prior to having reduced the amount of trapped particulate matter to the target amount when evaluation of the data discloses that the process should be terminated; wherein the step of evaluating data related to the warming phase and to the heating phase comprises counting cycling between the two phases, and the method comprises performing the step of operating the engine to terminate the process prior to having reduced the amount of trapped particulate matter to the target amount when the number of cycles counted equals a defined number.