GAUIDED PRESENTED

BY BY
Prof. IQBAL MANSOORI KHAN IBRAHIM AMJAD
 CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 CONVENTIONAL SPARKING PLUG IGNITION
 DRAWBACKS OF CONVENTIONAL IGNITION SYSTEM
 WHAT IS A LASER?
 LASER Ignition
 Types of Laser Ignition
 SETUP OF LASER IGNITION
 Working principle
 FLAME PROPAGATION IN COMBUSTION CHAMBER
 Why Laser Ignition?
 Comparative Advantages of Laser Ignition
 Additional advantages of Laser Ignition
 COMPERISION S.P AND L.I
 Future Research Needs and Shortcomings
 Summary
 Conclusion
 REFERENCES
 INTRODUCTION
 Internal combustion engines play a dominant role in transportation and energy

production.

 In technical appliances such as internal combustion engines, reliable ignition is

necessary for adequate system performance.

 Unfortunately, conventional spark plug ignition shows a major disadvantage with

modern spray-guided combustion processes since the ignition location cannot be
chosen optimally.

 A laser ignition source has the potential of improving engine combustion with
respect to conventional spark plugs.
 CONVENTIONAL SPARKING
PLUG IGNITION
 Conventional spark plug ignition has been used for many years.

 For ignition of a fuel-air mixture the fuel-air mixture is compressed and at the right
moment a high voltage is applied to the electrodes of the spark plug.
 Standard Spark Plug Ignition in an Internal
Combustion Engine
 Current internal combustion gasoline engines use spark plugs to ignite the air/fuel
mixture in each cylinder (located at the top of the combustion chamber).
 DRAWBACKS OF CONVENTIONAL
IGNITION SYSTEM
 Location of spark plug is not flexible as it requires shielding of plug from immense
heat and fuel spray.

 Leaner mixtures cannot be burned, ratio between fuel and air has to be within the
correct range.

 Flame propagation is slow.

 Erosion of spark plug electrodes.

 Degradation of electrodes at high pressure and temperature.

 WHAT IS A LASER?
 A laser is a device that emits electromagnetic radiation through a process of optical
amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons.
 The term ‘laser’ is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
 LASER Ignition
 Laser ignition, or laser-induced ignition, is the process of starting combustion by the stimulus
of a laser light source.
 Laser ignition uses an optical breakdown of gas molecules caused by an intense laser pulse to
ignite gas mixtures.
 The beam of a powerful short pulse laser is focused by a lens into a combustion chamber and
near the focal spot and hot and bright plasma is generated, see fig.
 Types of Laser Ignition
 Basically, energetic interactions of a laser with a gas may be classified into
one of the following four schemes as described in

1. Thermal initiation

2. Non-resonant breakdown

3. Resonant breakdown

4. Photochemical mechanisms
Laser Ignition System for an Internal
Combustion Engine
Laser ignition will replace the spark plug seen in current gasoline engines.
SETUP OF LASER IGNITION
 Working principle
 The laser ignition system has a laser transmitter with a fiber-optic cable powered by the car’s
battery. It shoots the laser beam to a focusing lens that would consume a much smaller space
than current spark plugs. The lenses focus the beams into an intense pinpoint of light, and
when the fuel is injected into the engine, the laser is fired and produces enough energy (heat)
to ignite the fuel.
 Below is a diagram of the laser arrangement:
FLAME PROPAGATION IN COMBUSTION
CHAMBER
 Why Laser Ignition?
 Regulations on NOx emissions are pushing us toward leaner air/fuel ratios
(higher ratio of air to fuel).
 These leaner air/fuel ratios are harder to ignite and require higher ignition
energies. Spark plugs can ignite leaner fuel mixtures, but only by increasing
spark energy. Unfortunately, these high voltages erode spark plug electrodes
so fast, the solution is not economical. By contrast, lasers, which ignite the
air-fuel mixture with concentrated optical energy, have no electrodes and are
not affected.
 Natural gas is more difficult to ignite than gasoline due
to the strong carbon to hydrogen bond energy.
 Lasers are monochromatic, so it will be much easier to ignite natural
gases and direct the laser beam to an optimal ignition location.
 Because of the requirement for an increase in ignition energy, spark plug life will
decrease for natural gas engines.
 Laser spark plug ignition system will require less power than traditional
spark plugs, therefore outlasting spark plugs.
 Ignition sites for spark plugs are at a fixed location at the top of the combustion
chamber that only allows for ignition of the air/fuel mixture closest to them.
 Lasers can be focused and split into multiple beams to give multiple ignition
points, which means it can give a far better chance of ignition.
 Why Laser Ignition? (continued)
 Lasers promise less pollution and greater fuel efficiency, but making small, powerful
lasers has, until now, proven hard. To ignite combustion, a laser must focus light to
approximately 100 gigawatts per square centimeter with short pulses of more than 10
millijoules each.

 Japanese researchers working for Toyota have created a prototype laser that brings
laser ignition much closer to reality. The laser is a small (9mm diameter, 11mm length)
high powered laser made out of ceramics that produces bursts of pulses less than a
nanosecond in duration.

 The laser also produces more stable combustion so you need to put less fuel into the
cylinder, therefore increasing efficiency.

 Optical wire and laser setup is much smaller than the current spark plug model,
allowing for different design opportunities.

 Lasers can reflect back from inside the cylinders relaying information such as fuel type
and level of ignition creating optimum performance.

 Laser use will reduce erosion.

 Comparative Advantages of Laser
Ignition
Spark ignition system Laser ignition system
 Less intense spark  More intense spark

 Leaner mixtures cannot be burned  Leaner mixture can burn

 Flame propagation is slow effectively

 Multi point fuel ignition is not  Flame propagation is faster

feasible.  Easier possibility of multipoint

 It causes more NOx emission ignition.

 Less NOx emission

 Additional advantages of Laser
Ignition:
 It does not require maintenance to remove carbon
deposits because of its Self cleaning property.

 Precise ignition timing possible.

 High load/ignition pressures possible => increase in

efficiency.

 Easier possibility of multipoint ignition.

COMPERISION S.P AND L.I
110

100 Spark ignition between

fuel spray
(Percent)

Laser ignition between

fuel spray
90
Laser ignition within
fuel spray

80
Consumption Smoothness Emissions
 Future Research Needs and
Shortcomings
 Cost
 Concept proven, but no commercial system yet available.
 Stability of optical window
 Beam Delivery/Laser induced optical damage
 Particle Deposits
 Intelligent control
 Laser Distribution
 Multiple pulse ignition
 Multiple point ignition
 Single Point Ignition:
 Timing optimization (phasing) vs Thermal Efficiency
 NOx tradeoffs
 Knock margin
 Multipoint Ignition:
 Higher flame speed may provide additional knock margin
as well as a higher burn rate.
 Multipulse Ignition:
 May provide improved ignition, leaner combustion, and lower emissions.
 May provide a way to circumvent beam delivery issue.
 Summary
 Laser Ignition has the potential to greatly improve
existing and future artillery systems.
 Safer
 Environmentally Friendly
 Reliable
 Automated Operation
 Technology Driven System Improvements
 Versatile and Flexible
 Conclusion
 Laser ignition system allows almost free choice of the ignition location
within the combustion chamber, even inside the fuel spray.
 Significant reductions in fuel consumption as well as reductions of
exhaust gases show the potential of the laser ignition process.
 Laser ignition is nonintrusive in nature; high energy can be rapidly
deposited, has limited heat losses, and is capable of multipoint ignition
of combustible charges.
 REFERENCES
 http://www.laserist.org/Laserist/showbasics_laser.html
 Bergmann and Schaefer, Lehrbuch der Experimentalphysik: Elektrizit¨at und
Magnetismus, vol. 2, Walter de Gruyter Berlin, 1981
 D. R. Lidde, ed., CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, CRC Press,
2000
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
Volume 3 Issue 7, July2014.
 J.D. Dale, P.R. Smy, R.M. Clements, Laser Ignited Internal Combustion
Engine An Experimental Study, S.A.E. Conference in Detroit, 29March 1978
 Ma J.X., Alexander D.R., Poulain D.E., Laser spark ignition and combustion
characteristics of methane-air mixtures, Combustion and Flame 112, 492-506
(1998).