Lecture- Prepared

16 under QIP-CD Cell

Project

Internal Combustion Engines

Ujjwal K Saha, Ph.D.

Department of Mechanical Engineering Indian
Institute of Technology Guwahati
1
 Introduction

The combustion in a spark ignition engine is

initiated by an electrical discharge across the
electrodes of a spark plug, which usually
occurs from 100 to 300 before TDC depending
upon the chamber geometry and operating
conditions.

The ignition system provides a spark of

sufficient intensity to ignite the air-fuel mixture
at the predetermined position in the engine
cycle under all speeds and load conditions.

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 Introduction – contd.

In a four-stroke, four cylinder engine operating

at 3000 rpm, individual cylinders require a spark
at every second revolution, and this necessitates
the frequency of firing to be (3000/2) x 4 = 6000
sparks per minute or 100 sparks per second. This
shows that there is an extremely short interval of
time between firing impulses.

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 Ignition System -Requirements
It should provide a good spark between the
electrodes of the plugs at the correct timing
The duration of the spark must be long enough with
sufficient energy to ensure that ignition of the mixture
has a high chance of occurring
The system must distribute this high voltage to each
of the spark plugs at the exact time in every cycle, i.e.,
it must have in it a distributing device
It should function efficiently over the entire range of
engine speed
It should be light, effective and reliable in service

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 Glow plug ignition
One of the early ignition system employed was
the glow plug ignition used in some kinds of simple
engines like model aircraft.

A glow plug is a coil of nichrome wire that will

glow red hot when an electric current is passed
through it. This ignites the air-fuel mixture upon
contact. The coil is electrically activated from
engine starting, and once it runs, it will retain
sufficient residual heat on each stroke due to heat
generated on the previous stroke. Glow plugs are
also used to aid starting of diesel engines.

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 Contact ignition
The other method used was the contact
ignition. It consisted of a copper or brass rod
that protruded into the cylinder, and was
heated using an external source. Heat
conduction kept the end of the rod hot, and
ignition takes place when the combustible
mixture comes into its contact. Naturally this
was very inefficient as the fuel would not be
ignited in a controlled manner. This type of
arrangement was quickly superseded by spark
ignition.

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 Modern ignition systems
The development of high speed, high
compression internal combustion engine requires
a reliable high-speed ignition system. This is met
by a high-tension ignition system that uses a spark
plug as the source of ignition. The electrical energy
to the spark plug is supplied by one of the
following systems and is termed accordingly.

1. Battery ignition system

2. Magneto ignition system
3. Electronic ignition system

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 Battery ignition system

Secondary
Coil winding

ignition Distributor contacts

switch Primary
1
winding
Contact 2
Ammeter
3
breaker
capacitor 4
Distributor Spark plugs
Contact-breaker
Battery operating cam

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 Battery ignition system

The primary circuit consists of the battery,

ammeter, ignition switch, primary coil winding,
capacitor, and breaker points. The functions of
these components are:
Battery provides the power to run the system

Ignition switch allows the driver to turn the system on and off

Primary coil produces the magnetic field to create the high

voltage in the secondary coil
Breaker points a mechanical switch that acts as the
triggering mechanism
Capacitor protects the points from burning out

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 Battery ignition system
The secondary circuit converts magnetic induction into
high voltage electricity to jump across the spark plug
gap, firing the mixture at the right time. The functions of
the components are:

Secondary the part of the coil that creates the high voltage
coil electricity
Coil wire a highly insulated wire to take the high voltage to the
distributor cap
Distributor a plastic cap which goes on top of the distributor, to hold
cap the high tension wires in the right order

Rotor spins around on the top of the distributor shaft, and

distributes the spark to the right spark plug

Spark another highly insulated wire that takes the high voltage
plug leads from the cap to the plugs
Spark plugs take the electricity from the wires, and give it an air gap
in the combustion chamber to jump across, to ignite the
mixture
10
 Magneto ignition system
The high powered, high speed spark ignition
engines like aircraft, sports and racing cars use
magneto ignition system. The basic components of
a magneto ignition system consist of a magneto,
breaker points, capacitor, ignition switch,
distributor, spark plug leads, and spark plugs.
Magneto can either be rotating armature type or
rotating magneto type. In the former, the
armature consisting of the primary and secondary
windings all rotate between the poles of a
stationary magneto, while in the second type, the
magneto revolves and the windings are kept
stationary.

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 Magneto ignition system
(with rotating magnets)
Spark plugs
Distributor

Coil

Ca m
Primary winding

Secondary winding
Rotating magnet (two-pole)

Contact- breaker

Ig nition
Capacitor switch

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 Electric Circuit

 Uses a changing
magnetic field to
generate current
in primary and
secondary circuits

13
 Magnetic Flux

• As magnet
approaches, induces
magnetic flux in
armature

• Breaker points close

and current dissipates
through primary
circuit

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 Spark Fires

• After magnet rotates

past armature flux
reverses direction, and
the breaker points
open
• Change in magnetic
flux produces 170 volts
in primary circuit
• Induces 10,000 volts
in secondary circuit,
firing spark plug

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Breaker Points

• Crankshaft rotation
causes mechanical
actuation of breaker
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 Electronic ignition system

The disadvantage of the mechanical system

is that it requires regular adjustment to
compensate for wear, and the opening of the
contact breakers, which is responsible for
spark timing, is subject to mechanical
variations.

In addition, the spark voltage is also

dependent on contact effectiveness, and poor
sparking may lower the engine efficiency.
Electronic ignition system has solved these
problems.

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 Electronic ignition system

Electronic
Ignition coil control unit
Switch Spark plugs

Sensor coil 3

Battery 4

Armature Distributor

18
 Electronic ignition system – contd.

In this system, the contact breaker points are

replaced by an angular sensor of some kind - either
optical, where a vaned rotor breaks a light beam,
or more commonly using a hall effect sensor, which
responds to a rotating magnet mounted on a
suitable shaft.

The sensor output processed by a suitable

circuitry is then used to trigger a switching device
such as a thyristor, which switches a large flow of
current through the coil.

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 Electronic ignition system – contd.
The rest of the system (distributor and spark plugs)
remains the same as that of the mechanical system.
The lack of moving parts compared with the
mechanical system leads to greater reliability and
longer service intervals.

Electronic
Ignition coil control unit
Switch Spark plugs

Sensor coil 3

Battery 4

Armature Distributor

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 Spark Plugs
Terminal
 The spark plug ignites
the air-fuel mixture
inside the cylinder. Insulator
occurs
This when high
voltage, triggered at Electrode

precisely the right

instant, bridges the gap
between the center Shell
and the ground
electrodes. It also Reach
provides a secondary
G
purpose of helping to a
channel some heat p
away from the cylinder. Ground
electrode
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A cold plug has the advantage
of quicker heat transfer. It has a
shorter
insulator, and thereby
allowing heat to travel a
shorter distance.
(a) Cold plug

A hot plug has a longer

insulator, and therefore, heat
travel path from firing tip to
electrode is longer. This enables
it to operate at higher
temperature to compensate for
the cooler running engine.
(b) Hot plug

22
 Firing Order
Firing order indicates the sequence or order in
which the firing impulses occur in a multi-
cylinder spark ignition engine. It is chosen to
give a uniform torque, and hence a uniform
distribution of firing per revolution of the engine.

This is naturally dictated by the engine design,

the cylinder arrangement and the crankshaft
design. The firing order be such that there must
always be a proper balance so as to minimize the
engine vibration.

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 Firing Order

As for example, in a four-stroke, four-

cylinder engine, the firing or the ignition in all
the cylinders has to be completed in two
revolutions of the crankshaft. With crank
throws at 1800, the cylinders 1 and 4 will reach
TDC at the same time. Now, if the firing
interval is made by 1800, the firing in cylinder-
1 cannot be followed by cylinder-4. For the
same reason, the firing of cylinder-2 cannot be
followed by cylinder-3. As such, the possible
sequence is 1-2-4-3 or 1-3-4-2.

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 References
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6. Heisler H, (1999), Vehicle and Engine Technology, Arnold Publishers.
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