Dr.

walid Abdelghaffar

Introduction

External spark is essential for the spark-ignition engines ????? The required voltage can extend upward as high as 30,000 volts (encountered on turbocharged engines)!!! Precise ignition timing and equally exact deactivation of the coil's current are absolutely essential in ensuring satisfactory engine performance and effective emissions control

Ignition System
2 Jobs 1. Change battery voltage (12v) into high voltage spark 60,000 volts.

2. Delivers the high voltage to the correct cylinder at the correct time.

Cutaway view of a four-cylinder engine with direct gasoline injection and fully-electronic ignition (distributorless high-voltage distribution)

Ignition-system evolution (overview)

Conventional coil ignition (1934 ... 1986) Transistorized ignition (1965 ... 1993) Electronic ignition (1982) Distributorless semiconductor ignition (1983)

Ignition performance demands for "modern times"

Engines started using leaner mixtures and higher compression ratios while operating speeds also increased. Other new entries in the demand catalog for ignition systems included: Noise reductions Flawless idling Extended maintenance intervals Durability in the face of harsh operating conditions Low weight Modest dimensions and Low cost adjust ignition timing based on engine load and speed

Conventional Coil Ignition (CI)

Two circuits of ignition system

Primary circuit- Low voltage circuit. It creates a magnetic field then collapses the field. Secondary circuit- High voltage circuit. Delivers the high voltage to correct cylinders.

Parts of the Primary Circuit

1) Battery Supplies electrical power for circuit. 2) Ignition switch Turns on or shuts off the circuit. 3) Resistor Reduces the voltage flowing through the circuit.

4) Primary windings Create a magnetic field in the coil. Hundreds of loops of thick wire. 5) Breaker points Will automatically turn on and shut off the primary circuit. 6) Condenser Helps to prolong breaker point life by preventing point arcing.

Diagram of Primary Circuit

Parts of Secondary Circuit

1) Secondary Windings Thousands of loops of very thin wire. Magnetic field goes through these to create high voltage. 2) Coil Wire Carries all of the high voltage out of coil to the distributor cap. 3) Distributor Cap Distributes the high voltage to plug wires. Creates the firing order for cylinders.

Secondary components cont.

4) Rotor Receives high voltage from cap and spins to distribute spark to each plug wire. 5) Spark plug wire Carries high voltage from cap to spark plug 6) Spark plug Provides an air gap for spark to jump and ignite fuel mixture.

Diagram Sec. Circuit

Battery Ignition System

Battery
Function To store chemical energy which can be transferred into electrical energy whenever required Components 2 plate of lead sulphates and electrolyte (sulphuric acid 21% +Water 79%)

Simple lead-acid cell

Battery-cell plate grouping and symbolic representation Section view of a single battery cell

Hydrometer
Device to measure the specific gravity of electrolyte

Fully charged Half charged Discharged

Ignition coil
Consists of primary coil (200-250) turns of heavy cupper wire to sustain high power (high Amp) and secondary coil [(100-150)*no of turns for primary winding]

Ignition Distributor
Consists of: 1. Body: Cam-breaker point-condenser 2. Cover: rotor- distributor points Distributor rotor speed=camshaft speed = crank shaft speed (4 stroke) = crank shaft speed (2 stroke)

Ignition distributor

Ignition Distributor
Functions: 1. Operates the contact breaker for making and breaking the primary current 2. Distributes the high volt energy surge to the respective spark plugs at the correct time of the cycle 3. Contains the centrifugal advance mechanism and vacuum advance mechanism to adjust spark time for different loads and speed

Condenser
Function: 1. Increase the rate of collapse of the magnetic field which increase the EMF 2. Prevents the contact breaker point from sparking between them 0.2 -0.4 F

Dwell angle
Dwell angle is the time period from the instant the contact beaker point just closed to the instant when they open again at a certain cam shaft speed. Dwell angle can be adjusted by using the breaker point gap

Three terms that refer to the amount of time the points are closed. Coil saturation time. Time coil has to build magnetic field while points are closed. Cam angle- number degrees of cam rotation when points are closed. Dwell- amount of time coil has to build up a magnetic field. Points closed. Measured in degrees of distributor cam rotation.

Dwell or Cam angle varies with engine size 4 cylinder= 50 to 60 degrees of dwell

6 cylinder = 37 to 47 degrees of dwell 8 cylinder = 28 to 32 degrees of dwell

Point gap vs. Dwell

If point gap is too big the dwell will be too small If point gap is too small the dwell is too big

If dwell is small the point gap is large. If dwell is too large the point gap is small

Dwell angle

Dwell angle is that portion of cam rotation when the contacts are closed

Spark Plug
Used to ignite the compressed fuel/air mixture in the combustion chamber and seals off the combustion chamber Consists of center electrode (+ve) and ground electrode (-ve) and insulator. The insulator tip temperature in the range (500800C) under all conditions If T<500 C carbon deposits and oil particulate accumulate on the plug tip leading to spark escaping to the cylinder head and misfire If T>850 C uncontrolled ignition can be occurred which leads to insulation destruction and spark escaping

Spark Plug heat range

Heat range- is the temperature the spark plug is designed to run at.

It is determined by the length of the insulator tip. Longer insulator tip will cause plug to run hotter.

Spark Plug

Heat range and reach of spark plugs. The longer the heat path as indicated by arrows the hotter the plug runs

Spark Timing
Spark should occur after compression stroke with piston at TDC. This will change as engine speeds up because fuel can only burn at one rate of speed. Piston could move faster than fuel burns, which means piston could be gone from TDC before fuel can push down on piston.

Two ways to advance timing

Vacuum advance- uses vacuum to pull on the breaker plate and cause points to open sooner. Centrifugal advance- uses centrifugal force to move some weights and cause shaft to move ahead of rotation and open points sooner.

Distributor centrifugal advance mechanism speed governor

Delay period: is the time period from the instant of spark to the instant of beginning actual burning Delay period in CA increases with increasing rpm This is because the maximum cylinder pressure is delayed (late in expansion stroke) and combustion gases will not be used fully for work development if the spark is not advanced with engine speed

At high rpm the cam plate rotates in the opposite direction of the rotor direction due to the centrifugal force of the flyweight. Then the breaker points open the primary circuit early and the spark is advanced

Distributor vacuum advance mechanism load governing

The spark timing is controlled based on the manifold vacuum (before TV) Idle (small vacuum) Part load (high vacuum) During part load the fuel-air ratio is lean, flame speed is low and point of spark needs to be advanced to obtain maximum work of the cycle. Full load (moderate vacuum)

Idle

Partload

Fullload

Advancing mechanisms

Vacuum advance against manifold depression Say 60 km/hr 15 advance due to speed 15 advance due to vacuum advance

Light-load vacuum advance against speed

Coil Ignition Timing adjustment system

a) Centrifugal advance mechanism (illustrative in passive state) b) Vacuum advance and retard mechanism
Advance unit (part and full load) Retard unit to improve emissions (Idle)

Conventional electromagnetic Ignition system drawbacks

1.

2.

The output volt depends on the current in the primary circuit and its build up during the period that the contact points remain closed For reasonable contact point life the current that can be interrupted by contact points is 5 Amp



Semi-conductor: material, which can be conductor or insulator based on the conditions Diode: is a semi-conductor used to rectify AC into DC. Transistor: is a semi-conductor used to control the flow of electronic current. It can act as switch to stop or allow current flow.
4.5 A C E

B B base E emitter C collector Primary ignition coil 0.3 A (10 mA in engines)

Breaker-triggered transistorized ignition

Advantages 1. The service life is increased dramatically for the breaker points. 2. The transistor can control higher primary currents than mechanical contact breakers. 3. No need to condenser
a conventional coil b breaker-triggered transistorized ignition

Transistorized ignition with Halleffect trigger

Current control The voltage loss through the transistor is greater than in the switching mode Dwell-angle control The Hall-effect triggers square-wave signal is converted to ramp voltage. The dwell angle control is set to provide a current control period t1 The t1 parameter is used to generate a voltage for comparison with the ramps falling ramp The primary current is activated at ON

t1 dwell period t1 current reduction period tz firing point

When current passes in a semi-conductor interrupting a magnetic field, Volt is built on the edge of the semi-conductor perpendicular to the current direction and the magnetic field. This volt called HALL VOLT (this volt is used to switch the transistor)

Ignition distributor using a Hall-effect switch Basic principle of a Hall-effect sensor

(steel rotor- permanent magnet Hall effect sensor)

When the shutter passes the air-gap, the magnetic filed is interrupted and a signal is sent to the transistor to allow the current passes into the primary circuit

Dwell angle is determined by the width of the shutter (How long current flows in the primary circuit)

Transistorized ignition with induction-type pulse generator

The voltage changes from ve to +ve based on the gap distance and direction

Effects of the passing reluctor tooth on the pickup coil

The continuous change in the gap between the rotor and the starter is reflected in the magnetic flux filed The change in the flux filed induces AC voltage in the induction winding Peak voltage varies according to engine speed: approximately 0.5 V at low rpm, and roughly 100 V at high rpm. The frequency f is the number of sparks per minute

Types of primary triggers used to switch the ignition-system primary current ON and OFF

Contact Points

Pickup Coil (induction) Hall-effect switch

Electronic Ignition (1980s)

No need to centrifugal and vacuum advance mechanisms Engine speed is registered by inductive pulse or Hall effect A pressure sensor is used to register the manifold pressure The most pronounced asset of electronic ignition is its ability to use a program map for ignition timing. The program map contains the ideal ignition timing for range of engine operating coordinates

Design based on the optimization criteria

Ideal electronic ignition-advance map with map for a mechanical adjustment system

Ignition timing control parameters

Ignition timing is selected based on Torque Fuel economy Exhaust-gas composition Margin to knock limit Monitoring a battery voltage is important as a correction factor for dwell angle. Driveability
A map based on engine speed and battery voltage is available for dwell angle.

additional parameters for ignition timing Engine temperature Intake-air temperature (optional) Throttle-plate aperture (at idle and at WOT)

Advantages of Electronic Ignition

1.

2.

3.

4.

Improved adaptation of ignition timing Improved starting, more stable idle and reduced fuel consumption Extended monitoring of operational data (such as engine temperature) Allows integration of knock control

Distributorless (fully electronic) ignition

The fully-electronic ignition system generates a separate, dedicated control signal for the individual cylinders Crank shaft position and cam shaft position must be registered to control the spark timing Each cylinder must be equipped with its own ignition coil Dual-spark ignition uses one coil for two cylinder

Distributorless (fully electronic) ignition

The advantages of distributorless ignition are

Substantially reduced electromagnetic interference, as there are no exposed sparks No rotating parts Less noise Lower number of high-tension connections and Design benefits for the engine manufacturer