Ignition Systems in Spark-Ignition Engines

By

Dr. Amr Ibrahim

Dr. Amr Ibrahim, 2010, all rights reserved. The commercial use of these slides without permission is strictly prohibited.

What is the main function of an ignition system?

The ignition system is responsible for generating the spark at the optimum time in order to initiate the combustion of the air-fuel mixture.

What is the optimum spark timing?

The spark is usually produced before the
piston reaches the TDC position by the end of compression stroke The spark timing may vary from 5 to 40 degrees before TDC The spark timing is usually experimentally selected in order for the engine to produce the maximum torque. This timing also gives maximum brake power & minimum brake specific fuel consumption.

 Retarded spark timing is used at engine idling to bring the ignition point closer to the TDC to avoid misfire and ensures engine smooth operation The optimum spark timing varies with engine load and speed

Types of ignition systems:

mechanical (contact point) ignition system

electronic (transistorized) ignition system distributor less ignition system

The Mechanical ignition system

The mechanical ignition system consists of:

battery & alternator ignition switch Ignition coil ignition distributor spark plugs cables

Engine battery
it is an electrochemical device it produces electric current for starting motor and ignition system while starting the engine it also supplies current to electrical accessories when the alternator is not handling the load

The chemicals in the battery are: o sponge lead (a solid) o lead oxide (a paste) o sulfuric acid mixed with water (electrolyte)

 Chemical reaction during discharging process:

PbO2 + Pb + 2H2SO4 2PbSO4 + 2H2O

Chemical reaction during charging process:

2PbSO4 + 2H2O PbO2 + Pb + 2H2SO4

the specific gravity of the battery electrolyte ranges from about 1.265 for fully charged battery to 1.11 for completely discharged battery the state of charge of a battery can be determined using a hydrometer

The spark plug

it generates the spark within the cylinder it has two metal electrodes (central and ground electrodes) there is an air gap between the central and ground electrodes when the central electrode is supplied with a high voltage current, the current passes from the central to ground electrode in the form of a spark

 the high voltage current is supplied to the terminal from the ignition coil most spark plugs have electrodes made of nickel and chrome alloys the wider the gap, the higher the voltage required to produce it the gap may vary from 0.9 to 2 mm

The ignition coil

it is a step up transformer it converts the small battery voltage of 12 volts to a high voltage of 25,000 volts in some electronic ignition systems, the voltage may go up to 47,000 volts or higher

 the ignition coil consists of two coils: the primary and secondary coils the secondary coil is made of a winding of many thousands of turns (e.g. 20,000 turns) of a fine wire the primary coil is made of a few hundred turns (e.g. 200 turns) of relatively heavy wire the secondary coil is wrapped around an iron core the primary coil is wrapped around the secondary coil (the two coils are electrically insulated)

The ignition distributor it receives the high voltage current from the ignition coil and distribute it to spark plugs according to the firing order it contains two mechanisms that can vary the spark timing according to engine speed and load its shaft speed is equivalent to the camshaft speed (i.e. half the crankshaft speed) in 4-stroke cycle engines the distributor shaft is driven by a gear on the camshaft

What is under the distributor cap?

1. The rotor
it receives the high voltage current via the central terminal in the cap and distribute it via the side terminals

2. The breaker cam & contact points

the contact points are operated by a breaker cam as the cam rotates, the points open & close the cam has as many lobes as no. of cylinders

Open contact points

Closed contact points

3. The condenser

The wiring diagram:

How the high voltage is produced?

the basic principle behind generating the high voltage in the ignition coil is Faradays law:

d E dt
the contact points operate as a mechanical switch in order to interrupt the primary current in the primary circuit and produce a change in the magnetic field when the contact points open the primary circuit, a high voltage is produced in the secondary circuit and a spark is generated

The electric circuit when the contact points are closed:

What happens when the contact points close the primary circuit? the current flows from the battery to the primary coil the flowing current produces a change in the magnetic field which cuts the turns of the primary coil and secondary coil this produces a self electric motive force in the primary coil which opposes the flowing current that results in a slow growth of the primary current and a small d/dt is produced when the secondary coil is subjected to a small d/dt, a small voltage is produced in the secondary coil during this period, the rotor in the distributor is rotating between the side terminals

The electric circuit when the contact points are open:

What happens when the contact points open the primary circuit? when the primary circuit is suddenly open, the primary current diminishes producing a change in the magnetic field the primary current rushes to the condenser and instantly charges it once the condenser is charged, it is discharged again when the condenser is being discharged, its current flows into an opposite direction to the primary current causing a rapid collapse of the primary current which leads to high d/dt the high d/dt produces a high voltage in the secondary coil at that time, the rotor in the distributor is in contact with a side terminal and a spark is generated

The dwell angle

The dwell angle is the angle of rotation of the distributor shaft through which the primary circuit is closed. if this angle is too small, the stored magnetic energy in the primary circuit will not be sufficient to produce the required high voltage in the secondary circuit if this angle is too high, high ignition coil temperature and perhaps coil damage could occur the dwell angle may range from 30 to 60 degrees

Contact points gap

the contact points gap is the distance between the two contact points when the are fully open the gap may range from 0.3 to 0.4 mm the wider the gap, the smaller the dwell angle, and vice versa during engine operation, wear occurs in the rubbing block and gap decreases the gap has to be readjusted by relocating the position of the fixed contact point
fixed point

rubbing block

moving point

Adjusting the spark timing

if the spark timing is too advanced, the combustion will start too early and the compression work will increase if the spark timing is too retarded, the combustion will complete too late and the peak cylinder pressure will be reduced causing a decrease in the expansion work The optimum spark timing is usually experimentally selected in order for the engine to produce the maximum torque The optimum spark timing varies with engine load and speed The ignition system must be capable of changing the spark timing with load and speed in order for the engine to produce the maximum torque

During engine motoring (i.e. with no combustion), the in-cylinder pressure increases with crank angle till it reaches its maximum at the TDC

 point 1: spark timing point 2: rapid combustion starts point 3: maximum pressure occurs after the TDC point 4: combustion ends

the period from point 1 to point 2 is called the flame development

period or ignition delay experimentally, it was found that the maximum torque is obtained when the spark timing is adjusted so that the maximum pressure is produced 10 to 16 degrees after TDC

Setting the spark timing according to engine load

The flame speed during engine part load operation is slower than the flame speed during full load operation due to: o during part load operation, less air and fuel is admitted into the cylinder compared to the full load operation o the decrease in the inlet mixture density during part load operation leads to a decrease in engine flame speed o also, during engine part load operation, the engine may use lean air-fuel mixture o the use of lean air-fuel mixture decreases the flame speed compared to the use of rich mixture

 therefore, the spark timing must be advanced during engine part load operation in order for the combustion to complete at the appropriate time advancing the spark timing during part load operation ensures that the maximum cylinder pressure occurs at the optimum time for maximum engine torque operation

the vacuum advance mechanism is responsible for advancing the spark timing during engine part load operation

The vacuum advance mechanism is connected to a small port located above the throttle valve

 when the throttle valve moves past the vacuum port, the intake manifold vacuum pulls the diaphragm this rotates the breaker plate so the contact points open earlier and the spark timing is advanced the spark advance increases as the vacuum acting on the diaphragm increases during engine idling & wide-open-throttle operation, there is no vacuum acting on the diaphragm

Setting the spark timing according to engine speed

experimentally, it was found that the total combustion angle increases with the increase of engine speed therefore, the spark timing must be advanced with the increase of engine speed in order for the combustion to complete at the appropriate time and the maximum pressure to occur at the optimum time the centrifugal advance mechanism is responsible for advancing the spark timing with the increase of engine speed the centrifugal advance mechanism is located inside the ignition distributor

The centrifugal advance mechanism

 as the engine speed increases, the movement of the weights under centrifugal force advances the angular position of the cam relative to the driveshaft in this cam new position, the contact points open earlier and the spark is advanced

During operation, both the vacuum advance mechanism and centrifugal advance mechanism advance the spark timing according to engine load and speed

Electronic (Transistorized) Ignition System

What is the main difference between the mechanical and electronic ignition systems?
in the mechanical ignition system, the primary current in the primary circuit is interrupted by a mechanical switch (the contact breaker points) in the electronic ignition system, the primary current is interrupted by an electronic switch

What is the main component of an electronic switch?

o it is the transistor the transistor is a semiconductor and has three terminals: a collector, a base , and an emitter when an electric current flows to its base, it becomes a conductor

The basic principle of the transistorized ignition system:

when the current flows to the transistor base, the transistor becomes a conductor and the primary current flows through the primary circuit when there is no current flowing to the transistor base, the transistor becomes an insulator and the primary circuit is switched off when the primary circuit is switched off, a high voltage is produced in the secondary circuit and a spark is generated

The advantages of using the transistor as an electronic switch compared to the contact points: the transistor can last for longer time (no mechanical wear)
the transistor can interrupt higher voltage current the transistor switches the current flow faster than the mechanical switch

Generating the transistor base current:

the transistor base current is generated by a signal generator located in the ignition distributor the signal generator type could differ from an engine to another (e.g. magnetic, Hall effect, or optical type)

The magnetic type signal generator

Advancing the spark timing based on engine load & speed:

the vacuum advance mechanism is used to advance the spark timing according to engine load by shifting the position of the pick up coil

 the centrifugal advance mechanism advances the spark timing according to engine speed by changing the angular position of the signal rotor relative to the driveshaft

sometimes in electronic ignition systems, both the ignition coil and distributor are integrated in one assembly

Electronic ignition system using an ECU

the ECU switches on and off the primary circuit the ECU controls the spark timing according to engine operating conditions detected by engine sensors the distributor mainly distributes the high voltage current to engine cylinders

 the electronic control of the spark timing via the ECU can achieve spark timings closer to the ideal ignition timings compared to the mechanical ignition system

ESA = electronic spark advance

Distributor less (or direct) ignition system

in this system, an ignition coil may be used for each cylinder or one ignition coil may be used for each two cylinders the ECU controls each ignition coil and the spark timing is determined according to engine operating conditions detected by engine sensors