Abstract
Transient plasma ignition using nanosecond pulses has demonstrated the potential to enable improved fuel economy and reduced emissions by enabling lean and EGR limit extension in dilute burn engines. Existing spark ignition technology is not adequate because the energy transfer mechanisms between the spark and the fuel-air mixture are not efficient enough to guarantee stable ignition for dilute mixtures at high-load conditions. Additionally, long duration sparks and other advanced ignition solutions that require increased energy delivered accelerate spark plug electrode wear. To date, non-thermal plasma ignition with nanosecond pulses have demonstrated a lean ignition limit beyond an air/fuel ratio of 24 [1], demonstrated high-pressure ignition at densities equivalent to over 100 bar at the time of ignition [2], and demonstrated stable (COV <3 %) ignition at EGR dilution levels >20 % [3]. While low-energy nanosecond pulses have demonstrated strong performance compared to existing solutions, they currently only exist on the market in laboratory systems, rather than a production ready system in a single rugged, weather-proof, under-the-hood enclosure. Transient Plasma Systems (TPS) has recently demonstrated the potential for a retroffitable solution similar to coil-on-plug architecture that allows a direct replacement of existing ignition technology without any engine modification. The system was run on a gasoline direct injection engine at Argonne National Laboratory and demonstrated the same trends as previously observed with research grade systems, including lean and EGR limit extension and more stable ignition across a range of loads. The system was capable of delivering 30 kV pulses in bursts of up to 20 pulses at 30 kHz, and demonstrated stable combustion at an air/fuel ratio of 23.5, exhaust gas recirculation of 23 %, and ignition at 19.2 bar with COV <3 % using only 20 kV pulses.
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Acknowledgements
This research is funded by SBIR Phase I DOE Grant DE-SC0013824 under Leo Breton. The topic was Advanced Ignition System for Internal Combustion Engines Enabling Lean-Burn and Dilute Gasoline Ignition and the title of the grant was “Application of low-energy nanosecond pulses for enabling lean-burn and dilute gasoline ignition”. The authors greatly acknowledge the technical discussions with Isaac Ekoto and Ben Wolk from Sandia National Laboratories, and Riccardo Scarcelli at Argonne National Laboratory.
Part of the submitted manuscript has been created by UChicago Argonne, LLC, Operator of Argonne National Laboratory (“Argonne”). Argonne, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory, is operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. The U.S. Government retains for itself, and others acting on its behalf, a paid-up nonexclusive, irrevocable worldwide license in said article to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and perform publicly and display publicly, by or on behalf of the Government.
This research is also funded by DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Program, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The authors would like to express their gratitude to Gurpreet Singh and Leo Breton, program managers at DOE, for their support. The research engine used to run these experiments at Argonne was provided by Ford Motor Company. Special thanks to Brad Boyer and Steven Wooldridge and their team from Ford Motor Company for their guidance and support.
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Singleton, D. et al. (2017). Demonstration of Improved Dilution Tolerance Using a Production-Intent Compact Nanosecond Pulse Ignition System. In: Günther, M., Sens, M. (eds) Ignition Systems for Gasoline Engines. CISGE 2016. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45504-4_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45504-4_3
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