Controlled Hot Surface Ignition in Stationary Petrol and Natural Gas Operation Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences

Format:

Conference/Event

Author/Creator:

Neher, Neher, author.

Contributor:

Giménez Olavarria, Blanca

Huegel, Philipp

Kettner, Maurice

Klaissle, Markus

Kubach, Heiko

Scholl, Fino

Teschendorff, Victor

Conference Name:

2012 Small Engine Technology Conference & Exhibition (2012-10-16 : Madison, Wisconsin, United States)

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Warrendale, PA SAE International 2012

Summary:

An operation with a lean air-fuel mixture enables smallercogeneration gas engines to operate at both high efficiency and lowNOx emissions. Conventionally, the combustion process isinduced through spark ignition. However, its small reactive mixturevolume sets limits on increasing the air-fuel ratio, as a higherdilution reduces mixture inflammability as well as flamepropagation speed. In addition, the spark plug durability islimited due to electrode wear, particularly through spark erosion,causing high maintenance costs. The ignition by means of a hotsurface has great potential to extend the frequency of servicingintervals as well as to improve the trade-off between engineefficiency and NOx emissions. Compared to conventionalspark ignition, ignition by means of a hot surface is achieved byaccelerated combustion. The latter is produced by an increasedinitial reactive mixture volume.A hot surface ignition (HSI) system was developed for stationarylean-burn operation, in due consideration of manufacturing costs,lifetime and electrical characteristics that allow for a reliablecontrol of ignition timing. The temperature of the hot surface, andhence the inflammation timing, can be adjusted through itselectrical power supply. In order to analyze the impact of the flowconditions on the inflammation process, several designs ofinflammation elements were developed.In a first step, experimental trials were carried out using asingle-cylinder test bed engine, running with a lean homogeneousair-petrol mixture at constant load and speed. Compared toprechamber spark ignition, HSI enhances the lean-burn limit,resulting in an improvement of the efficiency-NOxtrade-off. Due to a notable correlation between mean combustiontemperature and combustion phasing, a closed-loop algorithm forcontrolling combustion phasing was developed. Subsequently, theignition system was applied to a series natural gas lean-burncogeneration engine. An increase of the lean-burn limit compared tothat of the prechamber spark plug was also achieved

Notes:

Vendor supplied data

Publisher Number:

2012-32-0006

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license