Lecture-16 Prepared under

QIP-CD Cell Project

Internal Combustion Engines

Ujjwal K Saha, Ph.D.

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
1
 Introduction

The combustion in a spark ignition

engine is initiated by an electrical
discharge across the electrodes of a
spark plug, which usually occurs from 100
to 300 before TDC depending upon the
chamber geometry and operating
conditions.

The ignition system provides a spark of

sufficient intensity to ignite the air-fuel
mixture at the predetermined position in
the engine cycle under all speeds and
load conditions.

2
 Introduction contd.

In a four-stroke, four cylinder engine

operating at 3000 rpm, individual cylinders
require a spark at every second revolution,
and this necessitates the frequency of firing
to be (3000/2) x 4 = 6000 sparks per minute
or 100 sparks per second. This shows that
there is an extremely short interval of time
between firing impulses.

3
 Introduction contd.
The internal combustion engines are
not capable of starting by themselves.
Engines fitted in trucks, tractors and other
industrial applications are usually
cranked by a small starting engine or by
compressed air.
Automotive engines are usually
cranked by a small electric motor, which
is better known as a starter motor, or
simply a starter. The starter motor for SI
and CI engines operates on the same
principle as a direct current electric
motor.
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 Ignition System -Requirements
It should provide a good spark between the
electrodes of the plugs at the correct timing
The duration of the spark must be long enough
with sufficient energy to ensure that ignition of the
mixture has a high chance of occurring
The system must distribute this high voltage to
each of the spark plugs at the exact time in
every cycle, i.e., it must have in it a distributing
device
It should function efficiently over the entire
range of engine speed
It should be light, effective and reliable in
service
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 Glow plug ignition
One of the early ignition system employed
was the glow plug ignition used in some
kinds of simple engines like model aircraft.

A glow plug is a coil of nichrome wire that

will glow red hot when an electric current is
passed through it. This ignites the air-fuel
mixture upon contact. The coil is electrically
activated from engine starting, and once it
runs, it will retain sufficient residual heat on
each stroke due to heat generated on the
previous stroke. Glow plugs are also used to
aid starting of diesel engines.

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 Contact ignition
The other method used was the contact
ignition. It consisted of a copper or brass
rod that protruded into the cylinder, and
was heated using an external source.
Heat conduction kept the end of the rod
hot, and ignition takes place when the
combustible mixture comes into its
contact. Naturally this was very inefficient
as the fuel would not be ignited in a
controlled manner. This type of
arrangement was quickly superseded by
spark ignition.

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 Modern ignition systems
The development of high speed, high
compression internal combustion engine
requires a reliable high-speed ignition
system. This is met by a high-tension ignition
system that uses a spark plug as the source
of ignition. The electrical energy to the spark
plug is supplied by one of the following
systems and is termed accordingly.

1. Battery ignition system

2. Magneto ignition system
3. Electronic ignition system

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 Battery ignition system

Secondary
Coil winding

ignition Distributor contacts

switch Primary
winding 1

Ammeter Contact 2
breaker
3
capacitor 4
Distributor Spark plugs
Contact-breaker
Battery operating cam

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 Battery ignition system

The primary circuit consists of the battery,

ammeter, ignition switch, primary coil
winding, capacitor, and breaker points. The
functions of these components are:
Battery : provides the power to run the system

Ignition switch : allows the driver to turn the system on and off

Primary coil : produces the magnetic field to create the

high voltage in the secondary coil
Breaker points : a mechanical switch that acts as the
triggering mechanism
Capacitor : protects the points from burning out

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 Battery ignition system
The secondary circuit converts magnetic
induction into high voltage electricity to jump
across the spark plug gap, firing the mixture at the
right time. The functions of the components are:

Secondary : the part of the coil that creates the high voltage
coil electricity
Coil wire : a highly insulated wire to take the high voltage to
the distributor cap
Distributor : a plastic cap which goes on top of the distributor,
cap to hold the high tension wires in the right order
Rotor : spins around on the top of the distributor shaft,
and distributes the spark to the right spark plug
Spark plug : another highly insulated wire that takes the high
leads voltage from the cap to the plugs
Spark plugs : take the electricity from the wires, and give it an
air gap in the combustion chamber to jump across,
to light the mixture
11
 Magneto ignition system
The high powered, high speed spark
ignition engines like aircraft, sports and
racing cars use magneto ignition system.
The basic components of a magneto ignition
system consist of a magneto, breaker points,
capacitor, ignition switch, distributor, spark
plug leads, and spark plugs.
Magneto can either be rotating armature
type or rotating magneto type. In the former,
the armature consisting of the primary and
secondary windings all rotate between the
poles of a stationary magneto, while in the
second type, the magneto revolves and the
windings are kept stationary.
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 Magneto ignition system
(with rotating magnets)
Spark plugs
Distributor

Coil

Cam
Primary winding

Secondary winding

Rotating magnet (two-pole)

Contact- breaker

Ignition
Capacitor switch

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 Electric Circuit

Uses a changing
magnetic field to
generate current
in primary and
secondary
circuits

14
 Magnetic Flux

As magnet
approaches,
induces magnetic
flux in armature

Breaker points close

and current
dissipates through
primary circuit

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 Spark Fires

After magnet rotates

past armature flux
reverses direction,
and the breaker
points open
Change in magnetic
flux produces 170
volts in primary circuit
Induces 10,000 volts
in secondary circuit,
firing spark plug

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Breaker Points

Crankshaft rotation
causes mechanical
actuation of breaker
17
 Electronic ignition system

The disadvantage of the mechanical

system is that it requires regular
adjustment to compensate for wear, and
the opening of the contact breakers,
which is responsible for spark timing, is
subject to mechanical variations.

In addition, the spark voltage is also

dependent on contact effectiveness,
and poor sparking may lower the engine
efficiency. Electronic ignition system has
solved these problems.

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 Electronic ignition system

Electronic
Ignition coil control unit
Switch Spark plugs

Sensor coil 3

Battery 4

Armature Distributor

19
 Electronic ignition system contd.

In this system, the contact breaker points

are replaced by an angular sensor of some
kind - either optical, where a vaned rotor
breaks a light beam, or more commonly
using a hall effect sensor, which responds to
a rotating magnet mounted on a suitable
shaft.

The sensor output processed by a suitable

circuitry is then used to trigger a switching
device such as a thyristor, which switches a
large flow of current through the coil.

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 Electronic ignition system contd.

The rest of the system (distributor and spark

plugs) remains the same as that of the
mechanical system. The lack of moving parts
compared with the mechanical system leads
to greater reliability and longer service
intervals. In some older cars, it was usually
possible to retrofit an electronic ignition system
in place of the mechanical one.
Electronic
Ignition coil control unit
Switch Spark plugs

Sensor coil 3

Battery 4

Armature Distributor

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 Spark Plugs
Terminal
The spark plug ignites
the air-fuel mixture
inside the cylinder. This Insulator
occurs when high
voltage, triggered at Electrode

precisely the right

instant, bridges the gap
between the center Shell
and the ground
electrodes. It also Reach
provides a secondary
purpose of helping to Gap

channel some heat Ground

electrode
away from the cylinder.
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 A cold plug has the
advantage of quicker heat
transfer. It has a shorter
insulator, and thereby
allowing heat to travel a
shorter distance.
(a) Cold plug

A hot plug has a longer

insulator, and therefore, heat
travel path from firing tip to
electrode is longer. This
enables it to operate at
higher temperature to
compensate for the cooler
running engine.
(b) Ho t plug

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 Firing Order
Firing order indicates the sequence or
order in which the firing impulses occur in a
multi-cylinder spark ignition engine. It is
chosen to give a uniform torque, and
hence a uniform distribution of firing per
revolution of the engine.

This is naturally dictated by the engine

design, the cylinder arrangement and the
crankshaft design. The firing order be such
that there must always be a proper
balance so as to minimize the engine
vibration.

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 Firing Order

As for example, in a four-stroke, four-

cylinder engine, the firing or the ignition in
all the cylinders has to be completed in
two revolutions of the crankshaft. With
crank throws at 1800, the cylinders 1 and
4 will reach TDC at the same time. Now, if
the firing interval is made by 1800, the
firing in cylinder-1 cannot be followed by
cylinder-4. For the same reason, the firing
of cylinder-2 cannot be followed by
cylinder-3. As such, the possible
sequence is 1-2-4-3 or 1-3-4-2.

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 Firing Order

Consider another example of four-

stroke, six-cylinder inline engine, where
cranks are set at 1200, and with the
cylinders 1-6, 2-5 and 3-4 will reach TDC
simultaneously. Here, the possible
sequence is 1-5-3-6-2-4 or 1-4-2-6-3-5.
For radial engines, the cylinders are
usually numbered consecutively. Thus,
for a seven-cylinder radial engine, the
sequence is 1,3,5,7,2,4,6.

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