Tohru Yoshinaga

Research on formation and growth of flame kernel in spark ignition engine

Abstract The recent developments for lean mixture and high EGR ratio in the spark ignition engine have improved fuel consumption and exhaust emission, so that partial pressure of oxygen, or fuel density in the cylinder, is reduced; thus, the energy necessary for ignition is increased [1–4]. This problem is solved either by supplying high energy in a short period or by slowly raising the amount of energy. This research uses the latter method. The formation and growing process of the flame kernel was observed under various energy discharging durations. Therefore, a stable ignition that is effected by the extended energy discharging duration was found. Consequently, this helps the growth of the flame kernel. The effective spark duration under easy-to-fire conditions was also investigated.