V.M.

MURUGESAN
Associate Professor
Department of Automobile Engineering
PSG College of Technology
Coimbatore – 641 004
E mail: covaimurugesanvm@yahoo.com
Mobile : 094439 36930
IGNITION SYSTEM
• Outline of presentation

• Introduction
• Design consideration
• Basics of Electricity and Magnetism
• Ignition System Components
• Types of Ignition Systems
Magneto coil type
Battery coil type
Solid state ignition type
Advantages of electronic ignition system
 Ignition System -Introduction
• An ignition system is a system for igniting a fuel-air mixture in petrol (gasoline)
engines.
• The fundamental purpose of the ignition system is to supply a spark inside the
cylinder, near the end of the compression stroke, to ignite the compressed
charge of air–fuel vapour.
• Purpose is to create a high voltage spark and deliver the spark at correct time
according to firing order.
• It has to produce a high voltage spark (8,000-30,000 volts) for a small duration at
correct intervals of time, between the electrodes of the spark plug.
• A spark at atmospheric pressure requires only 8000 volts but at compression
pressure of 5 – 10 kg/sq.cm requires 20,000-40,000 volts to initiate combustion.
 Ignition System –Introduction Contd …

• For a spark to jump across an air gap of 0.6mm under normal

atmospheric conditions (1 bar), a voltage of 2–3 kV is required.
• For a spark to jump across a similar gap in an engine cylinder,
having a compression ratio of 8 : 1, approximately 8 kV is
required.
• For higher compression ratios and weaker mixtures, a voltage
up to 20 kV may be necessary.
• The ignition system has to transform the normal battery voltage
of 12 V to approximately 8–20 kV and, in addition, has to
deliver this high voltage to the right cylinder, at the right time.
• Some ignition systems will supply up to 40 kV to the spark
plugs.
 Design Consideration

• When considering the design of an ignition system

the following factors must be taken into account
• Combustion chamber design.
• Air–fuel ratio
• Engine speed range
• Engine load
• Engine combustion temperature
• Intended use
• Emission regulations
 Three T’s of combustion

 The objective of good combustion is to release all of the heat in the fuel.

 This is accomplished by controlling the "three T's" of combustion which are

(1) Temperature high enough to ignite and maintain ignition of the fuel,

(2) Turbulence or intimate mixing of the fuel and oxygen, and

(3) Time, sufficient for complete combustion.

 Too much, or too little fuel with the available combustion air may potentially result

in unburned fuel and carbon monoxide generation.

 Three T’s of combustion(Contd…)

• A very specific amount of O2 is needed for perfect combustion and

some additional (excess) air is required for ensuring complete
combustion.
• However, too much excess air will result in heat and efficiency losses.
• So the main challenge in combustion efficiency is directed toward
unburned carbon (in the ash or incompletely burned gas), which forms
CO instead of CO2.
Perfect, good and incomplete combustion
 Combustion Chamber Defined
 The combustion chamber consists of an upper and lower half.
 Upper half- Made up of cylinder head and cylinder wall.
 Lower half- Made up of piston head (Crown) and piston rings.

Design Considerations
 Minimal flame travel
 The exhaust valve and spark plug should be close together
 Sufficient turbulence
 A fast combustion, low variability
 High volumetric efficiency at WOT
 Minimum heat loss to combustion walls
 Low fuel octane requirement
 Chamber Shapes

A basic shapes
1. Wedge 2. Hemispherical
3. Crescent 4.Bowl in Piston
Chamber Shapes
 Wedge
Asymmetric design

Wedge
Asymmetric design
Valves at an angle and
off center
 Hemispherical

Hemispherical
(Hemi)
• Symmetric design
• Valves placed on a arc shaped head
 Bowl-in-Piston

Bowl-in-Piston
 Symmetric design
 Valves are placed perpendicular to head
 Crescent (Pent-Roof)

Crescent (Pent-Roof)
The valves are placed at an angle on flat
surfaces of the head
 Three Types of Ignition Systems

1.Magneto Ignition System

2. Battery Ignition System

3. Solid State Ignition System

Firing order
Power Stroke
Magneto Ignition System
 Magneto Ignition System

• Generates power through magnetic induction.

• Contains mechanical components (breaker

points) that perform the switching action in the
ignition circuit.
IGNITION COIL
 Ignition System -Requirements
• The ideal ignition timing is dependent on two main factors,
engine speed and engine load.
• An increase in engine speed requires the ignition timing to
be advanced.
• The cylinder charge, of air–fuel mixture, requires a certain
time to burn (normally about 2 ms).
• At higher engine speeds the time taken for the piston to
travel the same distance reduces.
• Advancing the time of the spark ensures full burning is
achieved.
• A change in timing due to engine load is also required as the
weaker mixture used on low load conditions burns at a
slower rate. In this situation, further ignition advance is
necessary.
 Ignition System -Requirements
• Greater load on the engine requires a richer mixture, which burns more
rapidly. In this case some retardation of timing is necessary.
• Overall, under any condition of engine speed and load an ideal advance
angle is required to ensure maximum pressure is achieved in the cylinder
just after top dead center.
• The ideal advance angle may be further refined by engine temperature
and any risk of detonation.
• Spark advance is achieved in a number of ways.
• The simplest of these being the mechanical system comprising a
centrifugal advance mechanism and a vacuum (load sensitive) control
unit.
• Manifold vacuum is almost inversely proportional to the engine load.
Spark Plug

It provides a gap for

electricity to jump
across, producing a
spark that will ignite
the engine’s fuel.
Heat ranges of Spark Plugs
Battery Ignition System
Battery coil Ignition System
• .
 Advantages of Electronic Ignition
• 1. High Secondary Voltages
• Electronic ignition systems can carry the increased
primary current needed to produce the higher secondary
system voltages needed to ignite leaner air/fuel mixtures.
• The primary circuit in most breaker point systems carried
3.5 to 4.0 amperes. When the breaker points opened, this
current tried to arc across the points.
• Point arcing caused electrolysis and corrosion on the
metal surface of the contacts.
 Advantages of Electronic Ignition
• When primary current increases above 4 amperes, point
life begins to decrease at an increased rate, resulting in
every limited point life.
• Faster wearing points require extra maintenance and
result in an ever-decreasing dwell period, which in turn
decreases the potential voltage induced in the secondary
system.
• Dwell is the period of time that current flows through the
primary circuit.
 Advantages of Electronic Ignition
• 2. Better High-Speed Performance
• Another handicap of the old breaker point system was that as
engine speed increased, the dwell time decreased.
• This, in turn, decreases the output of the coil. From the ignition
coil to generate maximum secondary voltage, maximum primary
current flow must be flowing through the primary winding before
the field is collapsed.
• In a breaker point system, the length of time the primary circuit
is closed is controlled by the speed of the breaker cam.
• This period of time is called dwell angle and is expressed in a
number of degrees of distributor shaft rotation.
 Advantages of Electronic Ignition
• For example, many V-8 engines have a dwell angle of 30 degrees during
which time the points are closed and current builds in the primary winding.
• This dwell angle remains constant regardless of engine speed; but as engine
rpm increases, the actual time, in seconds, the points are closed decreases.
• Any increase in engine speed above a specific rpm reduces the saturation
time of the ignition coil, causing the available voltage to decrease.
• This phenomenon is due to the fact that the current in the coil does not
instantaneously reach its maximum value when the contact points close.
• Current in the coil must build for several milliseconds for this value to be
reached.
 Advantages of Electronic Ignition
• At 1,000 rpm, the distributor shaft rotates once every 0.12 second. Of this
time, the points are closed for 0.10 second, or 10 milliseconds, for every
cylinder of an 8-cylinder engine. This is sufficient time for saturation of the
primary winding.
• When the engine speed increases to 2,000 rpm, the time that the points
are closed for each plug firing is reduced to 5 milliseconds.
• A dwell period of 5 milliseconds allows the primary current to build to 3.8
amperes.
• At 3,000rpm, the dwell period drops to 3.3 milliseconds and the current
drops to 3.2 amperes. The reduced saturation time lowers the available
secondary voltage.
• This can result in a misfire as there may be less voltage available than is
needed to fire the plug. This increases exhaust emissions and decreases
fuel economy and engine performance.
THANK YOU