A Photographic Study of Plasma Ignition Systems

850077

02/01/1985

Event
SAE International Congress and Exposition
Authors Abstract
Content
A photographic study was conducted using an optical-access compression-expansion machine in order to reveal the mechanism of ignition and flame propagation initiated by plasma igniters. The tests included a jet igniter with inert cavity liner (quartz), a jet igniter with reactive cavity liner (paraffin), and a J-gap spark plug. Schlieren cinematographic records were obtained for each condition along with concomitant pressure traces.
Basic features of ignition and combustion at lean limit were determined for each igniter. The spark plug permited lean operation down to an equivalence ratio of 0.7, after which mis-ignition occurred. Jet igniters provided an extension of lean limit to 0.5 in equivalence ratio. For jet igniters, these limits were imposed by either extinction of the flame or too slow burning rate, rather than by misfire.
Meta TagsDetails
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4271/850077
Pages
12
Citation
Edwards, C., Stewart, H., and Oppenheim, A., "A Photographic Study of Plasma Ignition Systems," SAE Technical Paper 850077, 1985, https://doi.org/10.4271/850077.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Feb 1, 1985
Product Code
850077
Content Type
Technical Paper
Language
English