Retractable Glow Plug Igniter for Methanol Engine Cold Starts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Methanol-fueled spark-ignition engines face difficulty in starting at low ambient temperatures due to insufficient evaporation and low concentration of methanol mixture, leading to misfire cycles and excessive emissions.
Innovation Solution
A precombustion chamber igniter with a retractable electric glow plug and a cold start control method that heats the precombustion chamber and improves thermodynamic conditions, using a jet flame to enhance turbulence and reactivity, allowing stable ignition and reduced emissions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If methanol fuel is used in spark-ignition engines, then clean alternative fuel and reduced dependence on fossil fuels are achieved, but cold start difficulty and increased emissions occur at low ambient temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by heating the precombustion chamber before the main combustion event. The electric glow plug heats the precombustion chamber to elevate the temperature of the methanol-air mixture prior to ignition, ensuring proper vaporization and combustion conditions are met before the main combustion cycle begins, thereby enabling reliable cold starts while reducing emissions.
2Quantity of substance
If methanol is injected into the combustion chamber, then fuel combustion occurs, but insufficient evaporation at low temperatures prevents proper mixture formation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses preliminary action by pre-heating the precombustion chamber with the electric glow plug before methanol injection and combustion. This preliminary heating elevates the temperature of the chamber and incoming air-methanol mixture, ensuring adequate evaporation of methanol before the main combustion event, thereby forming the required combustible mixture even at low ambient temperatures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies parameter changes by dynamically adjusting the temperature parameter of the precombustion chamber using the electric glow plug. The heating element changes the thermal state of the chamber from cold to warm, directly influencing the evaporation rate and combustion characteristics of the methanol mixture, thereby optimizing combustion conditions across different operating temperatures.
3Reliability
If a precombustion chamber is heated to improve thermodynamic conditions, then ignition reliability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies merging by integrating the electric glow plug heating function directly into the existing spark plug assembly and combustion chamber structure. The glow plug is positioned within the precombustion chamber and shares the same structural space as the spark plug, combining the ignition and preheating functions into a single integrated assembly, thereby improving reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The electric glow plug assembly serves multiple functions: it acts as both the ignition source for the main combustion event and the preheating element for the precombustion chamber. This multi-functionality allows a single component to address both ignition reliability and thermodynamic condition improvement, reducing the need for separate dedicated heating devices.
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
The precombustion chamber igniter facilitates stable cold starts with reduced fuel consumption and emissions by improving ignition limits and thermodynamic conditions in the main combustion chamber.
Implementation Method 1
an electric glow plug... a heating segment located at a lower part of the electric glow plug... provide heat energy for the injection chamber and the main combustion chamber
Implementation Method 2
using three effects of a jet flame on a working fluid in a cylinder, i.e., improving initial thermodynamic conditions, increasing the turbulence intensity and improving the reactivity of the working fluid
Implementation Method 3
The fuel injector is configured to inject fuel into the injection chamber to form a target gas mixture
Implementation Method 4
a spark plug... an electrode of the spark plug extend into an injection chamber
Data Source
AI summary
A precombustion chamber igniter with a retractable electric glow plug and a cold start control method for a methanol engine are provided. The precombustion chamber igniter includes a fuel injector, a spark plug, and an electric glow plug. The electric glow plug is retractable and has two working positions, at a first position, a heating segment is wholly located in an injection chamber to provide heat energy for the injection chamber, and at a second position, the heating segment is partially located in the injection chamber and passes through a first through hole, and the rest of the heating segment is located in a main combustion chamber of an engine, to provide heat energy for the injection chamber and the main combustion chamber. In a cold start stage of the engine, the heating segment of the electric glow plug is controlled to be located at the second position.