Holy Spirit University of Kaslik

Faculty of Engineering

ICE Project #2

Presented by: Paul A. Sader

Presented to: Professor Rabih El Murr

Table of Contents
List of figures......................................................................................................... 3
1.

Problem Statement.......................................................................................... 4
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2.

Introduction..................................................................................................... 5

3.

Magneto ignition System................................................................................. 6

4.

Laser ignition systems..................................................................................... 8

5.

Battery and Coil-operated ignition systems..................................................10

References........................................................................................................... 13

List of figures
Figure 1: common magneto ignition system..........................................................6
Figure 2: Schematic Diagram of Rotating Magnet Magneto with Jump-Spark
Distributor.............................................................................................................. 7
Figure 3: Laser ignition for SI engines....................................................................8
Figure 4: two types of laser ignition systems.........................................................9
Figure 5: Coil ignition System.............................................................................. 11

1. Problem Statement

In Spark Ignition Engines, the electrical discharge produced between the

spark plug electrodes by the ignition system starts the combustion
process close to the end of the compression stroke. Many ignition systems
have been developed and used like coil ignition systems, transistorized
coil ignition systems
You are asked to prepare a report in which you describe in details the
functioning of at least 3 systems.

2. Introduction
From the very beginning of internal combustion engine design ~he
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problem of ignition has been a major item. In comparison with the

principles of internal combustion engines, which have undergone
comparatively minor changes, the development of electrical ignition
systems has been rapid during recent years and has passed through
several definite stages of engineering design. It was realized almost at
once that an electric spark system was highly suitable to engine ignition,
but a simple means of providing a spark of sufficient intensity in the
proper place at exactly the desired time eluded designers. The low tension
ignition system was one of the first developments along this line and
presents an interesting historical background for modern advances.

3. Magneto ignition System

The common magneto ignition system has been around for over 100 years
and is still used today on many stationary and portable engines where
size restrictions limit the use of an external battery. It is also used on
many performance, aircraft and racing engines where a very reliable,
super-hot spark is a necessity.
A magneto is a combination of a distributor and generator built into one
unit. It is unlike a conventional distributor in that it creates its own spark
energy without external voltage. A series of rotating magnets break an
electrical field; this causes an electrical current in the coil's primary
windings. This current charge is multiplied when it transfers to the coil's
secondary windings. Because there are as many more times the number
of windings in the secondary circuit as there were in the primary circuit.
This multiplied charge causes the magneto to produce a spark at a much
higher voltage than was created by the primary windings. In some cases,
the voltage can be as high as 20,000 volts -- resulting in a much hotter
spark than a conventional distributor can produce.
A set of contact breaker-points, traveling over a cam lobe and serving
much the same function as the contacts in a conventional distributor,
regulates the electrical impulse to set the timing. The points act as an
interrupter to the magnetic circuit, which allows a fixed charge to enter
the secondary coil circuit, and a condenser acts as a ground to disperse
the primary's magnetic charge until the next armature rotation. The
quality of the spark voltage will improve as engine speeds increase
because the magnets are spinning faster and firing the primary windings
more often.

Figure 1: common magneto ignition system

On a single-cylinder engine such as a lawnmower or chain saw, the spark

plug wire is attached directly to the coil. On multiple-cylinder engines such
as tractors, motorcycles or cars, the magneto assembly is placed in a
camshaft-driven housing and a rotor and magneto cover disperse the
voltage to the appropriate cylinder via metallic spark plug wires. Use of
non-resistor spark plugs will result in the hottest spark.
The voltage generated by these magnetos makes them ideal for drag
racers and cars running on altered fuels such as alcohol or nitrous. Use of
a self-contained magneto ignition system on a race car can eliminate the
need for a battery, coil, alternator, regulator, starter and all the necessary
wiring for each, which gives the racer a big weight savings.
There are two basic types of magneto ignition; a self-contained unit that
has the coil mounted inside the housing is the earliest version, perfected
in the early 1900s. A second type of magneto uses a battery-powered
external coil. The most common external coil magneto on early cars was
in the Ford Model T. Newer versions of both types of magneto are
available from companies such as Taylor-Vertex, Harman-Collins, Mallory
and MSD. Rare earth magnet units are the most popular today for their
reliability.
As with a conventional point distributor, timing is critical when using a
magneto, because the advance timing that allows the engine to start
easily is not the same as the advance timing necessary to make the
magneto work at its peak at higher rpm. For this reason, many modern
aftermarket magnetos incorporate a 12-degree mechanical advance,
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allowing the magneto to work during start-up and when the engine is
under extreme conditions. More than 100 years after the magneto was
first designed, they are still made for motorcycles, performance and
classic car applications.

Figure 2: Schematic Diagram of Rotating Magnet Magneto with Jump-Spark Distributor

4. Laser ignition systems

Laser ignition, or laser-induced ignition, is the process of starting
combustion by the stimulus of a laser light source.
Laser ignition uses an optical breakdown of gas molecules caused by an
intense laser pulse to ignite gas mixtures. The beam of a powerful short
pulse laser is focused by a lens into a combustion chamber and near the
focal spot and hot and bright plasma is generated.
The process begins with multi-photon ionization of few gas molecules
which releases electrons that readily absorb more photons via the inverse
bremsstrahlung process to increase their kinetic energy. Electrons
liberated by this means collide with other molecules and ionize them,
leading to an electron avalanche, and breakdown of the gas. Multiphoton
absorption processes are usually essential for the initial stage of
breakdown because the available photon energy at visible and near IR
wavelengths is much smaller than the ionization energy. For very short
pulse duration (few picoseconds) the multiphoton processes alone must
provide breakdown, since there is insufficient time for electron-molecule
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collision to occur. Thus this avalanche of electrons and resultant ions

collide with each other producing immense heat hence creating plasma
which is sufficiently strong to ignite the fuel. The wavelength of laser
depends upon the absorption properties of the laser and the minimum
energy required depends upon the number of photons required for
producing the electron avalanche.

Figure 3: Laser ignition for SI engines

It is well known that short and intensive laser pulses are able to produce
an optical breakdown in air. Necessary intensities are in the range
between 1010 to 1011W/cm2.
At such intensities, gas molecules are dissociated and ionized within the
vicinity of the focal spot of a laser beam and hot plasma is generated. This
plasma is heated by the incoming laser beam and a strong shock wave
occurs. The expanding hot plasma can be used for the ignition of fuel-gas
mixtures. By comparing the field strength of the field between the
electrodes of a spark plug and the field of a laser pulse it should be
possible to estimate the required laser intensity for generation of an
optical breakdown. The field strength reaches values in the range of
approximately 3104 V/cm between the electrodes of a conventional
spark plug. Since the intensity of an electromagnetic wave is proportional
to the square of the electric field strength I E2, one can estimate that the
intensity should be in the order of 2 106 W/cm2, which is several orders
of magnitude lower as indicated by experiments on laser ignition. The
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reason is that usually no free electrons are available within the irradiated
volume.
At the electrodes of a spark plug electrons can be liberated by field
emission processes. In contrary, ionization due to irradiation requires a
multiphoton process where several photons hit the atom at nearly the
same time. Such multiphoton ionization processes can only happen at
very high irradiation levels (in the order of 1010to 1011W/cm2) where the
number of photons is extremely high.

Figure 4: two types of laser ignition systems

5. Battery and Coil-operated ignition systems

A battery ignition system has a 6- or 12-volt battery charged by an
engine-driven generator to supply electricity, an ignition coil to increase
the voltage, a device to interrupt current from the coil, a distributor to
direct current to the correct cylinder, and a spark plug projecting into each
cylinder. Current goes from the battery through the primary winding of the
coil, through the interrupting device, and back to the battery.
Interrupting the Current

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In older automobiles, the interruption of the primary current was created

by "breaker points," a switch with tungsten contacts to retard erosion.
Driven at half engine speed, a breaker cam, a rotating object with a lobed
surface (one lobe for each cylinder), opened and closed the points. When
the breaker points were closed, current flowed through the primary
winding of the ignition coil. In electronic ignition systems, introduced in
the early 1960s, the interrupting device is a reluctor, a magnetic pulse
distributor that produces timed electric signals that are amplified to
control the current to the primary winding of the ignition coil. Such
systems generally reduce ignition maintenance and increase engine
efficiency.
The Ignition Coil and Distributor
The primary winding consists of wire coiled around an iron core. Over this
is a secondary winding of many more turns of finer wire attached to the
distributor. Current flowing through the primary winding creates a
magnetic field. When the breaker cam opens the breaker points or the
reluctor delivers its signal, the circuit is broken and current stops. The
magnetic field collapses, inducing in the secondary winding a much higher
voltage that is led to the distributor. Inside the distributor a moving finger
rotates at half engine speed. As it rotates it touches contacts, each of
which runs to a different cylinder. Rotation is timed so that when the
finger is touching the contact for a particular cylinder, a high voltage has
just been induced in the secondary winding of the ignition coil and the
piston has almost reached the top of the compression stroke. Thus a high
voltage is impressed across the spark plug gap.
The Spark Plug
The spark plug consists of a center electrode imbedded in insulating
ceramic. Around the outside is a threaded metal shell that screws into a
hole in the top of the cylinder. A ground electrode extends from the shell
over the end of the center electrode. Between the two electrodes there is
a small gap of 0.015 to 0.040 in. (0.038 to 0.102 cm). At about 8,000 volts
a spark jumps the gap and ignites the air-gasoline mixture. A centrifugal
advance makes the spark fire earlier at high engine speeds; a vacuum
advance makes it fire earlier at small throttle openings above idle.

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Figure 5: Coil ignition System

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References
http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/2011/05/01/hmn_feature21.html
http://www204.pair.com/bbg46/FM%20Mag%20Manual/Mag%20Early
%20Ign%20Systems(23-31).pdf
https://nwxsn.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/laser-ignition-system
http://www.ijsr.net/archive/v3i7/MDIwMTQxMDY2.pdf
http://www.carparts.com/classroom/ignition.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/science/ignition-battery-ignitionsystems.html

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