Technical Paper
A Laser Interferometer Study of Combustion Near an Ignition Source in a Static Chamber
1975-02-01
750887
Operation of spark ignition engine under lean mixture condition is one of the several options that may be used to meet pollution and fuel economy standards. In such an operation various factors influence the combustion phenomonon. To examine these, a study is conducted in a static chamber using lean propane air mixtures of different stoichiometry. Effects of ignition energy, electrode geometry, location of ignition source and temperature profile in the initial reaction zone are investigated. It was found that increasing ignition energy accelerated flame up to a certain point; any futher increase in energy had little effect on the flame acceleration. The rate of pressure rise also showed similar pattern. Temperature in the reaction zone was lower when the ignition point was near the wall than away from it; the temperature profile was mapped using laser interferometer techniques. Round tipped electrodes showed better repeatability and yielded lower ignition energy than the flat tipped.