Combustion in a Spark Ignition Engine

Ignition J.P. Subrahmanyam

Types of Combustion
A process involving the propagation of a flame and the burning of the mixture as it goes along, the combustion process is termed as normal. Abnormal combustion is said to occur when the process of flame propagation is not normal, and there is a premature burning of the charge, and other phenomena take place. Some examples of abnormal combustion are detonation or knock, and surface ignition (pre-ignition and post-ignition).

IGNITION
Ignition is the starting point of combustion. The basic idea is to raise a small amount of the reactant to a temperature high enough to cause continuous flame propagation after the ignition energy source is removed. The volume of gaseous reactant heated during ignition must be large enough so that when the ignition source is removed, the heat loss to the surroundings will not exceed the chemical energy release rate. The problem is to determine if the heat transfer will cause the flame to be quenched.

Quenching
Quenching occurs when the flame gets extinguished There is a minimum distance beyond which the flame will not propagate A combustion chamber wall acts as a quenching surface A crevice of width less than the quench distance will not allow a flame to propagate

Spark Ignition
The electrical discharge produced between spark plug electrodes starts the combustion process A high-temperature plasma kernel created by the spark develops into a self-sustaining and propagating flame front A spark is caused by applying a sufficiently high voltage between two electrodes separated by explosive gas in the gap. It is possible to pass small electric sparks through the gas (in the gap) without producing ignition. When the spark energy is increased, that is, when the voltage across the electrodes is raised above a certain critical value (below which a spark may not even occur), a threshold energy is eventually obtained at which the spark ignites the charge This minimum ignition energy is a function of properties of the explosive gas and the configuration of the spark gap.

Effect of Various Parameters on Minimum Spark Energy

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Distance Between Electrodes Fuel Equivalence Ratio Initial Temperature Air Movement

Ignition energy in air at 1 atm, 20C

Fuel Methane Ethane Propane n-Hexane Iso-Octane Acetylene Hydrogen Methanol E (10-5J) 33 42 40 95 29 3 2 21

APPLICATION TO PETROL ENGINE IGNITION: IGNITION SYSTEMS COMMONLY USED IN SPARK IGNITION ENGINES

1. Battery ignition system where the high voltage is obtained with an ignition coil (coil ignition system). 2. Battery ignition system where spark energy is stored in a capacitor and transferred as a high voltage pulse to the spark plug by means of a special transformer (capacitive discharge ignition or CDI system). 3. Magneto ignition system where the magneto - a rotating magnet or armature - generates the current used to produce a high voltage pulse.

Other Ignition systems

1. IGNITION BY AN ELECTRICALLY HEATED WIRE 2. IGNITION BY FLAME OR HOT JET 3. PLASMA JET IGNITION 4. PHOTOCHEMICAL IGNITION 5. MICROWAVE IGNITION 6. LASER IGNITION 7. PUFF-JET IGNITION