Ignition Device Volumetric Combustion High-Speed Engine
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current spark-ignited combustion piston engines suffer from incomplete combustion due to the point-based ignition of the petrol-air mixture, leading to inefficiencies and increased thermal loading on the exhaust tract, which complicates design and costs, especially in high-speed engines.
Innovation Solution
An ignition device with an extended ignition gap formed between the cylinder head and piston, utilizing an ignition chamber electrode placed close to the piston's top dead center, allowing for a longer ignition gap without requiring complex electrical isolation of moving piston components, thus reducing power loss and cooling needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a conventional spark plug with small ignition gap is used, then the ignition voltage can be kept low, but the combustion process cannot be completed before the mixture is blown out of the cylinder, leading to incomplete combustion
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions from point-based ignition to volumetric ignition by distributing multiple ignition electrodes throughout the combustion chamber. This spatial distribution allows combustion to initiate at multiple locations simultaneously, effectively utilizing the third dimension (spatial distribution) to accelerate the combustion process and ensure complete burning before exhaust.
Solution Approach 2:
The combustion chamber is divided into multiple ignition zones by placing several ignition electrodes at different positions. Each electrode creates a localized ignition point, and the combined effect of multiple segmented ignition zones ensures complete and rapid combustion of the entire air-fuel mixture, resolving the issue of incomplete combustion in high-speed engines.
2Productivity
If a spark-to-piston design with long ignition gap is used, then combustion efficiency can be improved, but complex electrical isolation of the piston is required which is difficult to achieve with moving parts
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the electrical isolation problem from the moving piston by relocating all high-voltage ignition components to the stationary cylinder head. The ignition electrodes are mounted on the cylinder head and extend into the combustion chamber, eliminating the need for electrical isolation of moving parts while maintaining the benefits of extended ignition gaps for improved combustion efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of placing electrodes on the moving piston and isolating it electrically, the invention inverts the approach by placing all electrodes on the stationary cylinder head. This reversal of the conventional spark-to-piston design eliminates the electrical isolation problem while achieving the same combustion efficiency improvement through a different spatial arrangement of ignition components.
3Loss of energy
If incomplete combustion occurs, then the heating value cannot be fully converted to torque, but increasing the ignition gap length requires higher ignition voltage which complicates the design
Solution Approach 1:
The total ignition energy requirement is segmented and distributed across multiple electrodes instead of concentrating it in a single high-voltage gap. Each electrode operates at lower voltage, but the cumulative effect of multiple simultaneous ignition points achieves complete combustion, thereby converting the full heating value to torque without requiring excessively high ignition voltage.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention moves from a single-point ignition approach to a distributed volumetric ignition approach. By spreading ignition points throughout the combustion chamber in three-dimensional space, the system achieves complete combustion without needing to increase the voltage of any single ignition gap, thus resolving the contradiction between energy conversion efficiency and voltage requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables efficient combustion and reduced power loss, lowering fuel consumption and cooling demands while maintaining performance, by creating a larger ignition gap without the need for high ignition voltage on moving parts.
Implementation Method 1
the combustion of the petrol-air mixture normally starts from substantially one point, e.g. from the ignition point of a spark plug
Implementation Method 2
the combustion of the petrol-air mixture spreads substantially from a point of a clearly larger ignition chamber of the cylinder
Data Source
AI summary
An ignition device for an extraneously igniting combustion piston engine with an ignition chamber located between a cylinder head and a piston, wherein the cylinder head has an end surface which defines the ignition chamber and which is at least partially formed as a cylinder head electrode, and wherein an ignition chamber electrode is disposed within the ignition chamber and forms an ignition gap with the cylinder head electrode.