Patent ID: 8196569

Claim:
A method for operating an internal combustion engine having exhaust gas recirculation, the method comprising: supplying air to at least one combustion chamber via an intake manifold configured to be at least partially closable with the aid of a final control element; routing a portion of an exhaust gas flowing in an exhaust pipe into an area of an intake manifold positioned between the final control element and the at least one combustion chamber, wherein the portion of the exhaust gas is routed through an EGR channel configured to be at least partially closable with the aid of an EGR valve unit; ascertaining a first variable characterizing a mass flow of the exhaust gas routed through the EGR channel from a set of state variables of the internal combustion engine corresponding to an operating state in which the internal combustion engine is in overrun operation and the final control element is at least substantially closed, wherein the set of state variables includes a speed of the internal combustion engine, and a gas temperature and a pressure in the intake manifold between the final control element and the at least one combustion chamber; detecting, in the operating state in which the internal combustion engine is in overrun operation, a second variable characterizing the mass flow of the exhaust gas routed through the EGR channel, wherein the second variable is detected using a sensor; comparing the first variable being ascertained in overrun operation and the second variable being detected in overrun operation to one another; and correcting, based on the comparison between the first variable being ascertained in overrun operation and the second variable being detected in overrun operation, the variables being detected by the sensor in every operating state of the internal combustion engine.