Microwave-Enhanced Ignition in Diesel Engines.

Abstract

The ignition technique consists of inserting a horseshoe-shaped wire (igniter) with sharpened ends into a microwave field. When the field is sufficiently intense, an arc forms across the tips, effectively acting as a spark plug. Tests were conducted in a special instrumented waveguide section that could be irradiated with up to 2500 watts of microwave power. The igniter was tested by inserting it into the waveguide test section and increasing the microwave power until an arc was observed. Combustion tests were conducted by inserting the igniter and a small amount of fuel into a quartz tube. The tube was sealed, inserted into the waveguide, and preheated to vaporize the fuel. Microwave power was applied to induce an arc in the igniter. The tube was then removed from the waveguide and cooled, and the condensates were examined to verify that combustion occurred.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 15, 1983
Accession Number
ADA138148

Entities

People

  • A. C. Chachich
  • R. M. Bass

Organizations

  • Braddock Dunn & McDonald

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Burning Rate
  • Combustion
  • Combustion Products
  • Compression Ratio
  • Corporations
  • Diesel Engines
  • Engines
  • Fuels
  • Gas Chromatography
  • Igniters
  • Ignition
  • Laboratory Tests
  • Materials
  • Photodetectors
  • Power Levels
  • Spark Plugs
  • Waveguides

Readers

  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Microwave Engineering.