Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713

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Applied Thermal Engineering

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Research Paper

Optimization design of the ignition system for Wankel rotary engine

considering ignition environment, flow, and combustion
Huichao Jiao a , Run Zou a , Nana Wang b , Baoyang Luo a , Wenchao Pan a , Jinxiang Liu a ,∗
a
School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
b
Institute for Aero Engine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: To improve the poor in-cylinder combustion condition of the spark ignition (SI) Wankel rotary engine (WRE)
Wankel rotary engine (WRE) and improve its efficiency, this paper optimized the traditional SI system into an in-cylinder spark ignition
Ignition chamber (ICSI) system. The ICSI system achieves direct ignition inside the combustion chamber rather than inside
In-cylinder spark ignition (ICSI)
the ignition chamber by optimizing the structure and installation position of the spark plug. The cathode was
Rotor cathode
arranged on the moving rotor, and the anode was located on the modified spark plug on the cylinder surface. To
The constant distance profile
The computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
maintain a constant spark gap between the cathode and the anode during the rotor motion, a constant distance
profile for the rotor was proposed for the first time in this paper. For in-depth analysis of changes in in-cylinder
flow, ignition environment, flame propagation, and combustion parameters, a three-dimensional computational
fluid dynamic (CFD) model of the WRE based on the reasonable turbulent model and the reduced chemical
kinetic mechanism for gasoline was established, and its reliability was validated by comparing to experimental
results. The calculation results indicated that the introduction of the ICSI system increased the peak pressure up
to 24%, which greatly improved the engine performance. The turbulence intensity was increased during intake
and decreased during ignition and combustion. In addition, it was proved that the structure of the cathode
and the spark timing of the ICSI system had effects on combustion, emissions, and engine performance, which
is of great design and research value. The ICSI system proposed in this paper greatly optimized the in-cylinder
flow and combustion, providing a new direction for the performance optimization of the WRE.

1. Introduction
The Wankel rotary engine (WRE) failed the regulations and con-
sumers due to its poor emissions and high fuel consumption [1]. It has
almost faded out of the passenger car market since the first oil crisis [2].
However, its inherent dynamic performance, including power per liter
and power-to-weight ratio, is still beyond the majority of reciprocating
piston engines [3–5]. These advantages are so attractive that the studies
of the WRE have never stopped. In recent years, small WREs have
some new uses, such as aircraft power plants [6], electric vehicle range
extenders [7], household generators [8], etc. Accordingly, research on
them has been gradually hotted up again.
Compared with reciprocating piston engines, the biggest defects of
WREs lie in efficiency and emission [9], which is mainly due to their
poor combustion [10]. Optimizing an engine’s combustion can usually
start from the aspects of intake [11], flow [12], and ignition [13].
Recently, more and more studies have shown that the optimization of
the ignition system for WRE is of great benefit to the flame kernel
initiation and early development, thus contributing to the combus-
tion [14,15]. Fujimoto et al. [16] pointed out that using multi-point
ignition systems can effectively shorten the flame propagation dis-
tance and the combustion duration, increasing the pressure rise rate,
thermal efficiency, and engine power. Based on this, Shi et al. [17]
compared synchronous and asynchronous ignition systems in a WRE,
which proved better for engine performance that the spark timing
of the trailing spark plug advanced appropriately while that of the
leading spark plug remained constant. Besides, high-energy-ignition has
also proved to be an effective means to make the early flame burn
quickly [18]. However, despite the great improvement of the optimized
ignition on engine performance, the ignition and combustion conditions
in WREs are still worse than those of the reciprocating piston engines,
which may be largely related to the ignition chamber.
In the spark-ignited rotary engines (SI-WREs), the apex seals sweep
along the cylinder surface during operation, as illustrated in Fig. 1.
To prevent the spark plug from colliding with the apex seal, there is
usually a pit under the cylinder surface for installing the spark plug.
This pit usually reserves a relatively large volume to accommodate the
spark plug’s L-shaped cathode and provide enough ignition space, thus

∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: liujx@bit.edu.cn (J. Liu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.117713
Received 14 July 2021; Received in revised form 15 September 2021; Accepted 18 October 2021
Available online 30 October 2021
1359-4311/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
H. Jiao et al.
Fig. 1. Geometry of a traditional small-scale SI-WRE.
Fig. 2. LI system by Zambalov et al. [19] (left) and THJI system by Boretti et al. [20]
(right).
forming the ignition chamber. During engine operation, a part of the
combustible mixture is first compressed into the ignition chamber, then
ignited in the ignition chamber. Afterward, the flame in the ignition
chamber spreads into the combustion chamber, and the main combus-
tion stage begins. Such tortuous combustion process is mainly caused
by the ignition chamber, adversely affecting the engine performance.
Interestingly, the advent of some technologies has improved the ig-
nition conditions of WREs to a level comparable to that of reciprocating
piston engines, that is, laser ignition (LI) [19] and turbulent hot-jet
ignition (THJI) [20,21], as shown in Fig. 2. These two ignition methods
coincided with each other in transferring the spark region from the
ignition chamber into the combustion chamber for canceling the igni-
tion chamber. Zambalov et al. [19] used high-energy laser beams for
ignition in an optical WRE: the laser focused at the selected point in the
combustion chamber according to the ignition timing, thus igniting the
mixture at a specific time and position. Their test results showed that by
directly igniting in the combustion chamber, the flame propagation dis-
tance was shortened, accelerating the combustion speed and improving
the engine performance. More importantly, the unique unidirectional
airflow in the long and narrow combustion chamber promoted the
development of the initial flame. Boretti et al. [20] introduced THJI
technology into the WRE: they reformed the spark plug channel and
added a hydrogen (H2 ) nozzle inside the ignition chamber. At the
ignition timing, high-concentration H2 sprayed in the ignition chamber
is ignited first, and ejected from the spark plug channel, forming a high-
energy turbulent beam in the combustion chamber, thus igniting the
combustible mixture in the combustion chamber. This method achieves
linear ignition, which means multiple flame kernels distributed in line.
Their results showed that the fuel conversion efficiency and the torque
output drastically increased with direct injection and jet ignition of
gasoline VS. the traditional port-injected spark-ignition (SI) gasoline
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Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713
Fig. 3. Working principle of the SI system.
engine. It seems that direct ignition in the combustion chamber has
become the most effective way to improve the ignition and combustion
conditions of the WRE.
In this paper, based on the idea of transferring the ignition position
to the combustion chamber, the following optimization designs were
made for the traditional SI system: transfer the cathode of the spark
plug to the rotor; create a constant distance profile to adjust the height
of the rotor cathode to ensure a constant spark gap; relocation the
installation position of the spark plug upwards to fill the ignition cham-
ber. Then electric sparks can be generated between the modified spark
plug (with anode only) and the rotor cathode. The ignition capability
and reliability of the ICSI system were verified. However, what effects
the ICSI system would have on in-cylinder flow, ignition, and combus-
tion in a rotary engine was still unknown. Therefore, in order to figure
these issues out, three possible implementations with different spark
timings of the ICSI system were designed and investigated numerically.
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with a reasonable
turbulent model and the reduced chemical kinetic mechanism for gaso-
line were carried out to evaluate the ICSI system on in-cylinder flow,
ignition environment, flame propagation, and combustion parameters.
The simulation model used was verified by experiments in this paper.
Streamlines and velocity distribution were used to reflect the flow state,
while turbulent kinetic energy and average turbulent velocity were
used to reflect the turbulence situation. The ignition environment was
represented by the gas and flow conditions in the spark region. The
in-cylinder temperature and pressure were used to express the overall
situation of combustion. Combustion speed was essentially reflected by
heat release rate, fuel consumption rate, and temperature contour.
2. The ICSI system
2.1. Principle and verification of ICSI system
The electric spark is produced by the spark plug and some corre-
sponding electronic devices in the WRE. Fig. 3 is the equivalent circuit
diagram of the common spark-ignition system. The pulse signal of the
primary circuit (the left part of the equivalent circuit diagram) triggers
the turn-on and turn-off of the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT).
When IGBT is turned on, capacitor 𝐶1 stores energy. After shutdown,
under the joint action of the series resonant circuit (𝑅1 𝐿1 𝐶1 ) and the
boost coil (𝐿1 , 𝐿2 ), the voltage of the right circuit surges, breaking
through the spark gap between the anode and the L-shaped cathode
and forming an electric spark.
Theoretically, the generation of an electric spark only needs four
elements: the high voltage, the anode, the cathode, and the air gap.
Usually, the high voltage is supplied by the ignition coil, and the rest
aspects are provided by the spark plug. However, this is not absolute.
It can be seen from Fig. 3 that the spark plug’s L-shaped cathode is
grounded with its metal shell. Therefore, any metal part of the engine
could be the cathode as long as it is grounded with the spark plug’s
metal shell and has an air gap of a certain thickness to the anode on
the spark plug. This is the main idea of the ICSI system.
H. Jiao et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713

cylindrical cathode on its recess, and a modified spark plug (without

the L-shaped cathode) were used to test the realizability of the ICSI
system. Electric sparks between the anode (on the cylinder surface) and
the rotor cathode were successfully produced at the engine’s top dead
center (TDC), as shown in Fig. 4, which proved that the ICSI system is
realizable.
Since the direct connection between the rotor and the cylinder is
mainly through dynamic mechanical contact surface, maintaining the
stability of the ICSI system is of great importance. Three parallel circuits
are realized to increase the reliability of the stable grounding between
the rotor cathode and the cylinder, which are: (a) rotor cathode–
side seal & spring–side cover–cylinder; (b) rotor cathode–apex seal &
spring–cylinder; (c) rotor cathode–main bearing–eccentric shaft–side
bearing–side cover–cylinder. In the extreme case that the transient
disconnection occurs, still, the spark generation of the ICSI system will
Fig. 4. Experimental verification of the realizability of the ICSI system. not be affected because the rotor itself has a certain capacitance, accu-
mulating the small amount of charge released from the anode will not
Table 1
affect the huge potential difference between the rotor cathode and the
Technical specifications of the small-scale WRE. anode. Once the connection is restored, these temporarily accumulated
Engine Parameters Symbol Value charges will be released through the grounding connection. Therefore,
Number of rotors – One
the ignition reliability of the ICSI system is guaranteed.
Number of spark plugs – One
Displacement 𝑉ℎ 0.07 L 2.2. Modification of cylinder and rotor
Actual compression ratio 𝜀 10.5
Shape parameter 𝐾 7 As shown in Fig. 5, some adjustments have been made to the spark
Generating radius 𝑅 52.5 mm
Eccentricity 𝑒 7.5 mm
plug and cylinder in the ICSI system. We removed the L-shaped cathode
Cylinder profile offset 𝑎 1 mm of the spark plug and made its installation position closer to the cylin-
Cylinder width 𝐵 33.75 mm der surface. A ceramic bushing closely matched with the spark plug
Intake port open timing IO 80 ◦ EA (ATDCa ) and the spark plug channel was used to insulate the spark plug anode
Intake port close timing IC 40 ◦ EA (ABDCb )
from its shell and the cylinder. In order to avoid collision with the apex
Exhaust port open timing EO 60 ◦ EA (BBDCc )
Exhaust port close timing EC 70 ◦ EA (ATDC) seals, the spark plug anode and ceramic bushing were controlled at a
short distance of 0.09 mm away from the cylinder profile. The pit on
a
After top dead center.
b
the cylinder, which originally belonged to the ignition chamber, was
After bottom dead center.
c Before bottom dead center.
now completely filled with the modified spark plug.
In the WRE, the rotor rotates in a planetary way, and the outer
envelope formed by its profile during rotation coincides with the
theoretical profile of the cylinder. Therefore, in theory, any structure
on the rotor beyond the rotor profile will interfere with the cylinder.
Given this idea, considering the running characteristics of the ro-
However, in practice, both the rotor and the cylinder usually adopt
tary engine, this paper realized the ICSI system in a small-scale WRE
the actual profile with a certain offset (𝑎) from the theoretical profile
(structure as shown in Fig. 4, parameters as shown in Table 1) by the
to accommodate the machining errors, assembly errors, and thermal
following means:
expansion to avoid collision between them. This indicates that the
• Lift the position of the spark plug anode to the cylinder surface minimum distance between the rotor and the cylinder during operating
to block the ignition chamber. depends on 𝑎. In this paper, the studied WRE had an offset distance of
• Find a suitable position on the rotor to act as the cathode of the 𝑎 = 1 mm for the actual cylinder profile, and 0.8 mm for the actual
spark plug. rotor profile, so there is a gap of 0.2 mm between the rotor and the
• Control a reasonable spark gap to realize ignition. cylinder.
As mentioned above, we planned to find a suitable position on
A customized high-energy Capacitor Discharge Ignition (CDI) mod- the rotor to place the cathode, which should have a good positional
ule with a maximum spark energy of around 100 mJ, a rotor with a relationship with the anode on the cylinder at spark timing. At the TDC,

Fig. 5. Modification of the cylinder and the spark plug.

3
H. Jiao et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713

Fig. 6. Schematic diagram of the rotor cathode structure on the rotor recess.

due to the existence of the rotor recess, the linear distance between
the anode and the rotor was too large to generate an electric spark, as
shown in Fig. 6. So a columnar protrusion structure (marked in Fig. 6)
can be added to the rotor recess to reduce the distance to the anode.
The columnar protrusion was called the rotor cathode in this paper.
According to the previous analysis, the height of the rotor cathode
cannot exceed the rotor profile. Therefore, the minimum spark gap
(𝛥𝑚𝑖𝑛 ) is 0.29 mm in this paper under the condition shown in Fig. 6.
However, the spark timing of the WRE is usually not at the TDC Fig. 8. Simplified coordinate system of motion relationship between cylinder and rotor.
but advanced by a certain angle. The ignition advance angles are
different for different engines or the same engine under different work-
ing conditions. Consequently, a single rotor cathode cannot meet the one of the key parameters of the spark plug. According to Tahri et al.
requirements of different ignition advance angles. As shown in Fig. 7,
[22], the spark gap had a great influence on spark energy, breakdown
we have drawn a possible rotor cathode arrangement and listed the
voltage, discharge time, etc. An uncontrolled spark gap is harmful
spark gaps corresponding to each ignition advance angle. Seventeen
to the engine. Therefore, the height of these rotor cathodes should
rotor cathodes were arranged evenly along the rotor recess, fitting the
be properly adjusted to ensure a consistent spark gap under different
rotor profile along their length direction, and got the minimum spark
ignition advance angles.
gaps. It can be noticed that multiple rotor cathodes could adapt to the
ignition advance angles in a wide range, which was −71.91 ◦ EA∼0 ◦ EA The movement of the rotor can be simplified as pure rolling of
in Fig. 7. Generally, the ignition advance angle of the WRE is about 30 one ring gear around one gear. In Fig. 8, the 𝑥𝑂𝑦 coordinate system
◦ EA, which indicates that such an arrangement can meet the ignition represents the cylinder, and 𝑥′ 𝑂′ 𝑦′ stands for the rotor. ⊙ 𝑂 represents
requirements. the gear, and ⊙ 𝑂′ refers to the ring gear, so 𝑟𝑂 ∕𝑟𝑂′ = 2∕3, |𝑂𝑂′ | = 𝑒.
As for the minimum spark gap, it was 0.29 mm near TDC. However, Assuming the TDC as the initial moment, after the eccentric shaft (𝑂𝑂′ )
with the increase in ignition advance angle, the spark gap gradually rotates counterclockwise by 𝜑, the position of the rotor (𝑥′ 𝑂′ 𝑦′ ) is
increased, and the maximum spark gap was 1.48 mm in Fig. 7. When shown in Fig. 8. Since the rotating speed of the eccentric shaft is 3 times
the ignition advance angle was −51.99 ◦ EA, it reached about 1 mm, that of the rotor, it can be known that 𝜑 = 3𝜃. Assuming that point
a common spark gap of conventional spark plugs. The spark gap is 𝑃 (0, 𝑦0 ) is a fixed point on the short axis of the cylinder, the trajectory

Fig. 7. The smallest spark gaps at different ignition advance angles.

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H. Jiao et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713

2.3. Possible implementations of ICSI system

Fig. 9. The cylinder profile, the rotor profile and the constant distance profile.
of 𝑃 (𝑥′ , 𝑦′ ) in the 𝑥′ 𝑂′ 𝑦′ coordinate system can form a constant distance
profile about point 𝑃 . If the point 𝑃 is the anode, the obtained constant
distance profile will be the possible outer contour of the rotor cathodes.
In 𝑥𝑂𝑦 coordinate system, the coordinate of 𝑂′ is (𝑒 sin 𝜑, −𝑒 cos 𝜑),
and the slope of 𝑂′ 𝑥′ is tan 𝜃, so the formula of 𝑂′ 𝑥′ is:
𝜑 plants in aircraft or automobiles with complex working conditions, the
𝑦 + 𝑒cos𝜑 = tan (𝑥 − 𝑒sin𝜑)
3 discontinuous variable ignition advance angle is a huge loophole. To
Similarly, the formula of 𝑂′ 𝑦′ in the 𝑥𝑂𝑦 coordinate system is:
𝜑 𝜋
𝑦 + 𝑒cos𝜑 = tan( + ) (𝑥 − 𝑒sin𝜑)
3 2
When 𝑥 = 0, the coordinate of point 𝑄 can be obtained by cal-
culating Formula (1) as (0, −𝑒 cos 𝜑 − tan(𝜑∕3)𝑒 sin 𝜑), and the coor-
dinate of point 𝑀 can be obtained by calculating Formula (2) as
(0, −𝑒cos𝜑−tan(𝜑∕3+𝜋∕2)𝑒 sin 𝜑). Then, in the 𝑥′ 𝑂′ 𝑦′ coordinate system,
the coordinate of point 𝑃 can be expressed as:
𝜑 𝜋 𝜑 cathodes.
𝑥′𝑃 = −|𝑀𝑃 | sin 𝜃 = (𝑎 + 𝑒cos𝜑 + tan( + )𝑒sin𝜑) sin
3 2 3 The ICSI is purely an ignition theory, which does not determine the
𝜑 𝜑
𝑦′𝑃 = −|𝑄𝑃 | cos 𝜃 = (𝑎 + 𝑒cos𝜑 + tan 𝑒sin𝜑) cos
3 3
Formula (3) is the constant distance profile. Given the engine pa-
rameters 𝑅 = 52.5 mm, 𝑒 = 7.5 mm, 𝑎 = 1 mm, the half length of
the short axis of the actual cylinder profile is 𝑅 + 𝑎 − 𝑒 = 46 mm. The
target spark gap is 1 mm, so 𝑦0 = −45. The constant distance profile
obtained by solving Formula (3) is shown in Fig. 9. For comparison,
the actual cylinder profile solved by Formula (4), and the actual rotor
profile offset 0.2 mm from Formula (5) are shown in Fig. 9 together.
𝜑 𝑅 cos(𝜑∕3) + 3𝑒 cos 𝜑
𝑥 = 𝑒 cos 𝜑 + 𝑅 cos + 𝑎√
3 𝑅2 + 9𝑒2 + 6𝑅𝑒 cos(2𝜑∕3)
𝜑 𝑅 sin(𝜑∕3) + 3𝑒 sin 𝜑
𝑦 = 𝑒 sin 𝜑 + 𝑅 sin + 𝑎 √
3 𝑅2 + 9𝑒2 + 6𝑅𝑒 cos(2𝜑∕3)
The main idea of the ICSI system is to separate the anode and
cathode of the spark plug: the anode is installed close to the cylinder to
fill the ignition chamber; the cathode is integrated into the rotor recess,
keeping a constant distance, i.e., the spark gap, from the anode in the
possible spark timing range. It was mentioned above that the cylindrical
rotor cathode might be a choice, and the multiple cathode version
seemed better. As shown in Fig. 10(a), even if there are multiple se-
lectable ignition advance angles related to multiple cylindrical cathodes
(MCC), angles between any two rotor cathodes cannot be selected for
ignition. If the multiple cathode settings are close enough and the spark
timing is not precise enough, fire jumping or even misfire may occur.
To avoid this problem, precise control of constant spark timing must
be guaranteed. In fact, ICSI-MCC only needs a few cylindrical cathodes
(usually 1–2) to meet the switching requirements of several spark
timings under different working conditions in practical applications
such as marine engines. On such engines, it is easy to accurately control
several constant spark timings. However, for WREs used as power
(1)
make up for this loophole, we fused a plurality of cylindrical rotor cath-
odes into one planar cathode (PC), which possessed the outer contour
(2) of the constant distance profile and did not exceed the rotor profile
as shown in Fig. 10(b). Furthermore, for the purpose of enhancing the
in-cylinder vortex, a cylindrical vortex generator was added based on
the planar cathode, called the planar cathode with vortex generator
(PCVG), as shown in Fig. 10(c). To ensure the same compression ratio of
the three ICSI implementations, we adjusted the thickness and removed
some structures to get the same volume occupied by the three kinds of
(3)
specific ignition structure, so it is flexible and could have many other
implementations. Such implementations can also be achieved in other
sizes of SI-WREs as long as modifications can be made to the rotors,
cylinders, and spark plugs. However, in a large WRE, the benefits of the
ICSI system are not as obvious as those in a small WRE. This paper aims
to put forward the ICSI ignition theory, and the design and in-depth
study of the specific ignition structure will be carried out in the future.
ICSI-MCC, ICSI-PC and ICSI-PCVG were simulated as examples in this
paper to analyze and discuss the flow, combustion and performance of
the ICSI-WRE.
3. Simulation approach
(4)
3.1. Simulation model and boundary conditions

CONVERGE 2.4, a commercial CFD software specialized for engine

3𝑒2 calculation, was selected to simulate the working process of the small-
𝑥 = 𝑅 cos 2𝑣 + (cos 8𝑣 − cos 4𝑣)
2𝑅 scale WRE under three ICSI systems plus a traditional SI system because
( )1∕2
9𝑒2 of its delicacy in ignition simulation. The three chambers of the WRE
+𝑒(cos 5𝑣 + cos 𝑣) 1 − sin2 3𝑣
𝑅2 have similar working processes due to the special triangular rotor
3𝑒2 structure with central symmetry [23]. Therefore, the simulation of any
𝑦 = 𝑅 sin 2𝑣 + (sin 8𝑣 + sin 4𝑣)
2𝑅 one of the three working chambers can generally represent the engine’s
( )1∕2
9𝑒2 overall performance. Accordingly, for reduced calculation, we set up
+𝑒(sin 5𝑣 − sin 𝑣) 1 − sin2 3𝑣 (5)
𝑅2 the three-rotor cathode structural forms on three recesses of a single
rotor so that the engine performance under three ICSI systems can be
The constant distance profile and the rotor profile intersect at two
obtained in only one calculation.
critical points. Within the two critical points, the rotor profile is closer The established grid model is shown in Fig. 11. Whether in the tradi-
to point 𝑃 . Outside the critical points, the constant distance profile tional SI system or ICSI system, the grid model included intake, exhaust,
exceeds the rotor profile and may interfere with the cylinder during and three working chambers. The difference is that the traditional SI
operation. Therefore, the constant distance profile can be applied only system also included an ignition chamber (marked in Fig. 11). Thanks
in the range of two critical points, and the uniformity of spark gaps can to CONVERGE’s adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) technology, only the
be achieved in this range. In this paper, the spark timing range corre- computational grids with a large gradient of computational parameters
sponding to the range of the two critical points is −42.95 ◦ EA∼42.95 are significantly refined to capture the related flow phenomena. In
◦ EA. contrast, other grids remain sparse [24]. The AMR technology achieves

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H. Jiao et al.
Fig. 10. Three possible implementations of the rotor cathode.
Fig. 11. Grid model of the traditional SI-WRE and ICSI-WRE.
the highest computational accuracy and maximizes grid efficiency with
the lowest computational cost, so that the global grid need not be too
fine. In this paper, the global grid size was chosen 3 mm, and local
refinement was manually carried out with the minimum grid size of
0.75 mm for the inlet, ignition chamber, rotor cathode, and all walls.
Further refinement will be executed automatically according to the
local gradient of the calculated parameters by ARM.
The RNG 𝜅 − 𝜀 turbulent model was chosen for the calculation
because of its accuracy and forecasting capacity [25]. This model is
especially suitable for calculating the flow state in the long and narrow
combustion chambers so that it has been favored by WRE simulations.
The heat transfer model proposed by Han and Reitz [26] was used in
the simulation. The combustion model adopted was the SAGE high-
speed and detailed chemical reaction model. The SAGE model has
higher accuracy than the empirical model in predicting knock, self-
ignition, and emission, and its accuracy has been verified in the WRE
simulation [27]. The reduced primary reference fuel (PRF) mechanism
that comprises 47 species and 142 reactions [24] was selected as the
kinetic mechanism of gasoline in this study. The gasoline in the model
was detailed as 92% iso-octane (C8 H18 ) and 8% n-heptane (C7 H16 ) in
volume to imitate the 92# gasoline (China-V). In all calculations, the
air intake and exhaust were set at constant atmospheric pressure, and
the fuel was supplied according to the equivalent ratio. In this way, the
influence of volumetric efficiency on the air intake and fuel intake were
naturally taken into account.
The ignition process was simplified by the spark-energy deposition
model in this study, which was developed by Yang et al. [28]. The
breakdown phase, arc phase, and glow exothermic phase of the spark
were characterized by an energy profile. Half of the total energy
was released instantaneously at the breakdown phase, and the rest of
the energy was released during the arc phase and glow exothermic
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Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713
phase [15]. Since the spark in the actual ignition process is similar to
the line segment connecting the cathode and anode, the linear ignition
of the Converge software was adopted. In the simulations of ICSI-MCC,
ICSI-PC, and ICSI-PCVG, the line segment was located between the
anode on the cylinder and the rotor cathode (with the shortest length),
releasing 100 mJ of energy according to the energy profile in 1.5 ms.
The settings and boundary conditions of the simulation model are
listed in Table 2. Due to the existence of the ignition chamber, the
ignition position of the SI-WRE differed from that of the ICSI-WRE,
but other parameters were consistent. It is worth mentioning that the
spark shape in the simulation model was set as a straight line between
two electrodes to restore the ignition process as truly as possible. The
initial simulation state was set as shown in Fig. 11, and calculations
were made for several engine cycles to get periodically steady results.
3.2. Model validation
In order to verify the accuracy of the calculation model in this paper,
a small-scale WRE test system was built to test the WRE described in
Table 1. The test system included the electric dynamometer system,
cylinder pressure test system, temperature test system, and engine
assembly. Fig. 12 shows the core components of the test system, such
as speed and torque sensor, and cylinder pressure sensor. Technical
parameters of the main sensors are listed in Table 3.
There may be some unknown problems with the ICSI-WRE, so
we only tested the traditional SI-WRE as the initial validation. The
WRE test speed was set at 3000 rpm, and the cylinder pressure curve
measured at the full load state of the engine is shown in Fig. 13.
The cylinder pressure sensor was installed on the cylinder, so the
pressure in any working chambers can only be measured within a
H. Jiao et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713

Table 2
Settings and boundary conditions of the simulation model.
Parameters Value of the SI-WRE Value of the ICSI-WRE
Engine speed 7500 rpm 7500 rpm
Spark timing −33.42 ◦ EA −33.42 ◦ EA
Spark duration 1.5 ms 1.5 ms
Spark energy 100 mJ 100 mJ
Spark type Line between electrodes Line between electrodes
Coordinates of the spark center (0, −45.5, 0) (0, −49.5, 0)
Initial cylinder wall temperature 400 K 400 K
Initial rotor wall temperature 430 K 430 K
Initial outlet wall temperature 550 K 550 K
Initial intake wall temperature 360 K 360 K
Initial ignition chamber temperature 550 K –

Table 3
Technical parameters of main sensors.
Sensor Type Schematic Parameter Value
diagram

Cylinder pressure KISTLER Operating temperature −50 ◦ C–400 ◦ C

6052 CU20 Pressure range 0–250 bar
Accuracy ⩽ ±0.5 bar

Speed and torque LANMEC Torque range ±20N ⋅ m ⩽ 20000 rpm

ZJ-20Z Speed range 0.2%
Accuracy

𝜆 ALM-LSU Operating temperature 785 ◦ C–980 ◦ C

ADV 𝜆 range 0.5 − ∞
𝜆 accuracy ±0.008 @ 𝜆=1.00
Response time ±0.01 @ 𝜆=0.80
±0.05 @ 𝜆=1.70
5 ms

Temperature WRNK-191 Temperature range 0 ◦ C–1300 ◦ C

Measuring element Ni–Cr & Ni–Si
Accuracy ±0.15◦ C

Fig. 12. Test platform for small-scale WRE.

Fig. 13. Comparison of simulated and tested in-cylinder pressure of SI-WRE.

certain angle range. As a result, the in-cylinder pressure curve measured

was partial. The simulation results of the traditional SI-WRE under
the same conditions were also given in Fig. 13. There was a certain
deviation between the two curves, but they were still well matched
on the whole. This shows that there are no fundamental errors in the
simulation model used in this paper.
4. Results and discussions
The ICSI system mainly affects the WRE in two aspects: one is the in-
cylinder flow, the other is ignition and combustion. In this section, the
in-cylinder working process of the three ICSI implementations and the
traditional SI-WRE was compared and discussed to explore the degree
and laws of such influences. Spark timing was also studied to evaluate
the potential of the ICSI system.
4.1. Influence of ICSI system on in-cylinder flow
The in-cylinder flow of the WRE appears to be a typical strong
unidirectional mode [29]. This section mainly discussed how much
influence the introduction of the ICSI system, especially the vortex
generator, had on this unidirectional flow field. Three areas were

7
H. Jiao et al.
Fig. 14. Streamlines and velocity distribution near the cylinder surface.
Fig. 15. Streamlines and velocity distribution near the rotor surface.
selected, namely the cylinder surface, the rotor surface, and the region
around the rotor cathode, to investigate their flow fields, trying to find
some regular and interesting phenomena.
Sixteen streamline seeds near the cylinder surface were evenly
spread to obtain the streamline passing through these points, as shown
in Fig. 14 (seeds). These streamlines represented the trajectory of gas
flow near the cylinder surface. The velocity magnitude was introduced
into Fig. 14 to better understand the flow behavior. It can be seen
from Fig. 14 that at TDC, the flow near the cylinder surface under the
influences of the four ignition systems were all in typical unidirectional
mode. All the velocity magnitudes reached the maximum at the short
axis of the cylinder, and the order of the maximum flow velocity was:
SI > PCVG > MCC ≈ PC. In addition, the in-cylinder flow of the three
ICSI implementations all appeared ‘‘bifurcation’’ mainly caused by the
combustion phenomenon near the cylinder surface, and the degree
of such influence from large to small was: PC > PCVG > MCC. This
sequence also revealed the flame development speed along the cylinder
surface. As seen from the side vision of Fig. 14, the fluid near the
cylinder surface seemed not to be affected by the rotor cathode.
8
Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713
The rotor surface was very close to the cylinder surface at TDC.
Despite their similar flow field at the edge, the flow field near the rotor
recess was closely related to the rotor itself. Therefore, 12 streamline
seeds were evenly distributed near the rotor recess, and the obtained
flow field and the velocity distribution were given in Fig. 15. In ignition
systems of SI, PC, and PCVG, similar uniform and unidirectional flow
field distributions were observed, and the order of velocity magnitude
was: SI > PCVG > PC. However, the flow field near the rotor surface
of the ICSI-MCC system was strongly jammed. It can also be seen from
the side vision of Fig. 15 that only the flow field near the recess of
the ICSI-MCC rotor surged toward the cylinder surface at the leading
side. There may be a combined influence of the MCC structure and the
combustion phenomenon near the rotor surface.
To explore the influence of the rotor cathode on the non-edge in-
cylinder flow, as shown in Fig. 16, 16 streamline seeds were scattered
near the rotor cathode of PCVG. For the sake of comparability, the
seed distributions of other cases were consistent with PCVG. Despite the
similar unidirectional flows in all cases, the ‘‘bifurcation’’ phenomenon
only appeared at the leading side of the combustion chamber in ICSI
H. Jiao et al.
Fig. 16. Streamlines and velocity distribution around the rotor cathode.
Fig. 17. Comparison of turbulence conditions.
systems. From side vision in Fig. 16, MCC caused great disturbance to
the flow field, while PC and PCVG had little effect on the flow field.
In ICSI-MCC, bypass occurs when gas in the cylinder flows through
each cylindrical rotor cathode. The superposition of bypass phenomena
results in chaotic flow conditions. In order to quantify the in-cylinder
turbulent situation, the mass-averaged turbulent kinetic energy (TKE)
and mass-averaged turbulent velocity in the combustion chamber were
plotted to compare the above four cases, respectively, as shown in
Fig. 17.
In the intake stroke (before −310 ◦ EA), cathodes on the rotor
recesses caused higher TKE and turbulent velocity, compared with rotor
9
Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713
recesses with nothing. The order of maximum TKE was PC > MCC >
SI > PCV. In the compression stroke (−310 ◦ EA∼−33.42 ◦ EA), the TKE
and the turbulent velocity generally showed a slow downward trend,
except for the traditional IC, which had a strong throttling phenomenon
during blow-by near −180 ◦ EA (the maximum TKE exceeded 70 m2 ∕s2 ).
During the combustion process (−33.42 ◦ EA∼−210 ◦ EA), the TKE of the
traditional SI system was higher, and the other three were similar and
smaller. The order of turbulent velocity was SI > MCC > PC ≈ PCVG.
On the whole, during combustion, they were at the lowest level in the
whole cycle.
4.2. Influence of ICSI system on ignition and combustion
The biggest change of the ICSI system to the WRE was in ignition
and combustion. As the initial combustion, the ignition process is
sensitive to external influence, so that the ignition process can affect
the subsequent combustion process to a large extent. Therefore, as ICSI
changed the ignition position and the flame propagation distance, the
engine performance was supposed to be greatly changed.
The ignition process is a transient and sharply changing process,
mainly affected by the concentration of the combustible mixture, the
gas state, and the flow condition near the spark region at spark timing.
In this paper, the values of these parameters were presented in Fig. 18.
All the parameters of the three ICSI implementations were close to
each other but were different from those of the traditional SI-WRE.
Compared with the traditional SI-WRE, the ICSI-WREs had higher com-
pression pressure and temperature in the spark region at spark timing,
which may be due to the larger actual compression ratio resulted from
the elimination of the ignition chamber. As can be seen from the
mixture concentration aspect, the fresh intake in the spark region of
the ICSI-WREs at spark timing was close to the intake, while that of the
SI-WRE was slightly lower due to leakage during the blow-by process.
The most prominent differences between the ICSI implementations and
the SI-WRE were in the TKE and flow velocity magnitude. Although
the overall flow velocity magnitude in the ignition chamber was lower
than that in the combustion chamber, we were surprised to find that
the flow velocity magnitude in the spark region of the SI-WRE ignition
chamber (50 m/s) was higher than that in the spark region of the ICSI-
WREs, which is not conducive to the formation of the early flame. On
the other hand, the TKE also showed a consistent trend.
H. Jiao et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713

Fig. 19. Comparison of heat release rate and fuel consumption.

be seen that when a certain amount of fuel was consumed (5%, 10%,
50%, etc.), the corresponding eccentric shaft angle of the 4 WREs had
the relationship of PCVG < PC < MCC < SI, indicating the combustion
speed relationship as PCVG > PC > MCC > SI.
In order to more intuitively describe the combustion speed, the tem-
perature was taken as the object to plot the flame positions at several
different eccentric shaft angles, as shown in Fig. 20 (not shown below
1000 K). It can be clearly found from Fig. 20 that the main reason for
the slow combustion of the SI-WRE was that its flame forming location
was outside the combustion chamber, and it took a long time for the
early flame to propagate into the combustion chamber. On the contrary,
the three implementations of the ICSI system, which originally ignited
in the combustion chamber, achieved rapid and complete combustion.
We may get an overall impression of the ignition system variation
to the engine operation from the in-cylinder pressure and tempera-
ture curves (Fig. 21). As expected, the peak pressures of the three
ICSI-WREs were higher than that of the SI-WRE (approximately 24%
higher). The relationship of the peak pressure among the three ICSI-
WREs was PCVG > PC > MCC. A higher peak pressure may give
the engine greater power, torque, and better dynamic performance.
However, the in-cylinder temperatures under the influence of the three
ICSI implementations were higher than SI-WRE, and so was the exhaust
temperature.

4.3. Influence of spark timing on SI-WRE & ICSI-WREs

To evaluate the potential of the ICSI system, an SI-WRE and three

ICSI-WREs were calculated under the ignition advance angles of −24.48
◦ EA, −33.42 ◦ EA, and −42.66 ◦ EA, respectively. The ignition advance

angles were mainly selected based on the achievable values of the

ICSI-MCC. The performance was evaluated by the indicator diagram
(P-V diagram) and other common performance indicators, including
indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP, 𝑝𝑚𝑖 ), power per liter (𝑃𝐿 ),
Fig. 18. Gas condition parameters in the spark region at spark timing.
and indicated thermal efficiency (𝜂𝑖 ). They are defined by the following
formulas:
𝑊
𝑝𝑚𝑖 = 𝑖 (Pa) (6)
𝑉ℎ
The effect of these differences on combustion can be reflected by
the heat release rate and the fuel consumption rate in the combustion 𝑃𝑒 𝑃𝜂
𝑃𝐿 = = 𝑖 𝑚 (kW∕L) (7)
chamber, as shown in Fig. 19. It can be observed from the in-cylinder 𝑖𝑉ℎ 𝑖𝑉ℎ
heat release rate curve that the combustion in the SI-WRE lagged by 𝑊𝑖
𝜂𝑖 = (8)
about 38 ◦ EA compared to the ICSI-WREs. Although its main com- 𝑄
bustion process maintained a similar upward trend to the other three where 𝑊𝑖 represents the cylinder cyclic indicate work in J, 𝑉ℎ repre-
ICSI-WREs, its maximum heat release rate is greatly discounted. In sents the cylinder displacement in m3 , 𝑃𝑖 represents the indicated power
terms of combustion speed, both PC and PCVG released a large amount in kW, 𝜂𝑚 is the mechanical efficiency, 𝑖 represents the number of rotors
of heat in the early combustion, while MCC was slightly inferior, and in WRE, and 𝑄 represents heat released per cycle of fuel in J.
the worst was the SI-WRE, which slowly released heat during the As shown in Fig. 22, different ignition advance angles have different
combustion process. According to the consumption rate of C8 𝐻18 , it can extents of effect on different ignition systems. At the ignition advance

10
H. Jiao et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713

Fig. 20. Flame development under different ignition systems.

Table 4
Summary of the simulated engine performance under different spark timings.
Ignition system IC IC IC MCC MCC MCC PC PC PC PCVG PCVG PCVG
Spark timing (◦ EA) −24.48 −33.42 −42.66 −24.48 −33.42 −42.66 −24.48 −33.42 −42.66 −24.48 −33.42 −42.66
𝑃𝐿 (kW/L) 35.73 35.27 36.51 66.18 70.70 73.18 63.51 67.04 72.12 68.99 72.84 81.41
𝑝𝑚𝑖 (MPa) 0.36 0.35 0.37 0.66 0.71 0.73 0.64 0.67 0.72 0.69 0.73 0.81
𝜂 (%) 24.71% 25.73% 24.17% 31.26% 31.98% 32.16% 28.87% 29.85% 31.93% 30.73% 32.79% 35.64%

while in ICSI-WREs, such influence was more significant. Especially

Fig. 21. Comparison of in-cylinder temperature and pressure.
Fig. 22. Indicator diagrams under different spark timings.
angle of −42.66 ◦ EA, the order of peak in-cylinder pressure is PCVG>
PC > MCC > SI. At the ignition advance angle of −33.42 ◦ EA, the order
of peak in-cylinder pressure is MCC > PC > PCVG > SI. At the ignition
advance angle of −22.48 ◦ EA, the order of peak in-cylinder pressure
is PCVG ≈ PC ≈ MCC > SI. In the SI-WRE, the in-cylinder pressure
changed slightly due to the variation of the ignition advance angle,
in ICSI-PCVG, due to the existence of vortex generators, the earlier
ignition means more turbulence was generated in the early combustion
stage, which leads to faster combustion speed and higher peak pressure.
To compare the performance of these engines in detail under dif-
ferent ignition advance angles, the above-mentioned performance in-
dicators, i.e. 𝑝𝑚𝑖 , 𝑃𝐿 , and 𝜂𝑖 , were calculated, as shown in Table 4.
All selected indicators excluded the size of the engine to judge the
engine performance. In the calculation, the mechanical efficiency is
taken as 80%. The cyclic work was obtained from the area of the curve
encircled in Fig. 22; The heat release was obtained by integrating the
heat release rate curve. As can be seen from Table 4, the maximum
𝑃𝐿 of 81.41 kW/L occurred under the combination of ICSI-PCVG and
−42.66 ◦ EA with the highest 𝜂𝑖 of 35.64%. The thermal efficiency
of the ICSI-WREs increased with the increase of the ignition advance
angle. However, the thermal efficiency of the SI-WRE had an inflection
point among three ignition advance angles, and the optimum one was
−33.42 ◦ EA. Judging from 𝑝𝑚𝑖 and 𝑃𝐿 , the ICSI-WREs are superior
among WREs [30]. However, the thermal efficiency of all engines in
this calculation was relatively low, which was mainly caused by the
engine size. Small-scale engines have extremely high area-to-volume
ratios and severe heat losses are unavoidable without special measures
to remedy [31].
Fig. 23 shows the emissions of HC, CO, CO2 and NOx from the
SI-WRE and ICSI-WREs simulated. On the whole, compared with the
SI-WRE, ICSI-WREs had lower HC and CO emissions and higher CO2
emission due to more complete combustion. However, the NOx emis-
sion of ICSI-WREs were much higher than that of the SI-WRE, which
was caused by the difference of the highest in-cylinder temperature.
The effect of ignition advance angles on the emissions of the SI-WRE
was not obvious, and that on the emissions of HC, CO and CO2 in
three ICSI-WREs was also not significant. However, the NOx emissions
of ICSI-WREs increased exponentially with the increase of ignition
advance angle. Similar tendencies were obtained under different ig-
nition advance angles of other engines [32,33]. With the increase of
the ignition advance angle, the difference of NOx emissions between
different ICSI-WREs became more and more obvious. The difference in
NOx emissions between the three ICSI-WREs was not so large at the
spark advance angles of −22.48 ◦ EA and −33.42 ◦ EA, but significant
effects of rotor cathode shapes on NOx emissions at the maximum
spark advance angle −42.66 ◦ EA were found: PCVG > PC > MCC >

11
H. Jiao et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 201 (2022) 117713

• The ICSI implementations based on the constant distance profile

can achieve directly in-cylinder ignition with a constant spark
gap.
• The presence of the rotor cathode in the ICSI system enhanced in-
cylinder turbulence during intake and slightly reduced in-cylinder
turbulence during combustion.
• The structures of the rotor cathodes affected both in-cylinder
turbulence and combustion. In this paper: MCC had the greatest
disturbance to turbulence; PC had the highest velocity; PCVG,
which was originally designed to generate turbulence, was proved
to have the smallest TKE, and the best performance.
• The biggest difference between the ICSI system and the traditional
SI system was not reflected in the rotor cathode, but reflected in
the presence of the ignition chamber. By removing the ignition
chamber, the maximum pressure, combustion speed, and other
aspects of the WRE were greatly improved.
• The ignition advance angle has great influence on the perfor-
mance of ICSI-WREs in terms of power, efficiency, etc. The larger
the ignition advance angle, the better the engine performance,
but the in-cylinder temperature and NOx emissions will increase
correspondingly.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-

cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from China

Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2020M670323).

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