Chapter five

Fueling system of SI and CI engines

Introduction
 Spark ignition or petrol engines use usually the volatile fuels. e.g. petrol, alcohol
 The mixture of fuel and air is prepared outside the engine cylinder and partly evaporated
mixture is supplied to the engine
 The process of preparation of mixture of atomized fuel and air before admission to the
cylinder is called carburetion.
 The device which supplies the metered spray of fuel mixed with correct amount of air
for efficient combustion in cylinder at all operating condition is called carburetor.
Carburetion

Factors affecting carburetion

 Engine speed
 Temperature of incoming air
 Volatility of the fuel
 Design of intake manifold/carburetor

A Simple (or) Elementary Carburetor

To understand a modern carburetor, which is a complicated one, it is helpful to first study a
simple or elementary carburetor. It consists of a float chamber, venturi, discharge jet or main
nozzle, choke valve and throttle valve.

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Float Chamber (or) Float Bowl: It consists of a float and needle supply valve.
 This system maintains a constant petrol level in the float chamber.
 If the fuel level is too high, fuel will continue to flow from the discharge jet or main
nozzle.
 The air fuel mixture will become too rich.
 This result in wastage of fuel, engine stall or poor running and the pollutant exhaust
emissions such as hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.
 If the fuel level in the float chamber is too low, the vacuum in the venturi will not pull
enough fuel out of the float chamber. .
 The air fuel mixture will become too lean.
 This result in engine stall or poor running.
 If the amount of fuel in the float chamber falls below the desired level, the float lowers,
thereby opening the needle of fuel supply valve and admit fuel into the chamber.
 When the desired level has been reached, the float closes the needle valve, thus stopping
additional fuel flow from the supply system.
 Float chamber is vented to the atmosphere.

Venturi (or) Choke Tube: Venturi is a tube of decreasing cross section which reaches a
minimum at the throat.
 During suction stroke air is drawn through the venturi.
 The air passing through the venturi increasing in velocity and the pressure in the
venturi throat decreases.
Main Nozzle (or) Discharge Jet: From the float chamber, the fuel is fed to a main nozzle. The
tip of the discharge jet is located in the throat of the venturi.
Throttle Valve: The throttle valve is a round disc located between the venturi and the engine
inlet of the induction system.
 The throttle is connected to the accelerator pedal by a flexible cable.
 Depressing the accelerator pedal opens the throttle valve and permits an increased
amount of air fuel mixture to reach the engine cylinders.
 This will increase the power output of the engine and hence the vehicles speed.
Choke Valve: It is a valve which is used for controlling the amount of air passing to the venturi
and is used when starting a cold engine.

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Types of Carburetors
Based on the direction of air flow
1. Up draught (or vertical) type
2. Horizontal draught (or side draught or cross draught) type
3. Down draught (or inverted) type

Based on the venturi & depression

1. Fixed Venturi
2. Variable Venturi
Up draught (or vertical) type: The Up draught carburetor can be placed on the side of the engine.
 In this carburetor, air fuel mixture flows upward.
 The mixture containing liquid particles must be lifted from the carburetor into the engine.
 Air velocities must therefore be high about 17 m/s at low loads.
 Such velocities can be obtained only by using smaller diameter
venturi throat and manifold passages.
 The small sized manifold and throat are likely to result in greater
friction.
 This in turn causes reduced volumetric efficiency particularly at
high engine speeds.
 As a result power output is limited
Horizontal draught (or side draught or cross draught) type: The
horizontal draught carburetor consists of a horizontal mixing tube
with the float chamber on the side of it.
 This type of carburetor is very much accessible.
 It is used in engines where there is a little space over the
engine (where under bonnet space limited).

Down draught (or inverted) type: In the down draught carburetor,

air fuel mixture flows downward.
 This mixture will reach the engine, even when the velocity is
low.
 This is because the mixture flow is assisted by gravity.
 Carburetor throat and inlet manifold can therefore be made
larger.
 This in turn makes high speed and high output possible.
 Down draught carburetor is preferred for high output engines.
Fixed Venturi
o This is currently the most commonly used type of carburetor.
o In this carburetor, the venturi area is always maintained to be
constant.
o But the depression or vacuum which cause flow of fuel and air
are being varied as per the demand on the engine.

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 Examples: Solex, Carter, Stomberg, Weber, and Zenith
Carburetors
Variable Venturi
In this carburetor, the venturi area is being varied as per the
demand on the engine, while the vacuum or depression is
maintained to be always constant.
Example: SU carburetor

Carburetor Systems
The fixed venturi carburetor has six systems and several devices that provide the correct air-
fuel mixture for different operating conditions. These include:
1. Float System
2. Idle and Low speed System
3. Main-Metering System
4. Power System
5. Accelerator Pump System
6. Choke System
1. Float system
Float Chamber (or) Float Bowl: It consists of a float and needle supply valve.
o This system maintains a constant petrol level in the float chamber.
o If the fuel level is too high, fuel will continue to flow from the discharge jet or main
nozzle.
o The air fuel mixture will become too rich.
o This result in wastage of fuel, engine stall or poor running and the pollutant exhaust
emissions such as hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.
o If the fuel level in the float chamber is too low, the vacuum in the venturi will not pull
enough fuel out of the float chamber. . The air fuel mixture will become too lean.
o This result in engine stall or poor running.
o If the amount of fuel in the float chamber falls below the desired level, the float lowers,
thereby opening the needle of fuel supply valve and admit fuel into the chamber.
o When the desired level has been reached, the float closes the needle valve, thus stopping
additional fuel flow from the supply system.
o Float chamber is vented to the atmosphere.
2. Idle and Low Speed System
a) Idle System
o When the throttle valve is closed or only
slightly open, only a small amount of air can
pass through the air horn.
o With low air speed, there is very little
vacuum in the venture.
o No fuel will feed from the fuel nozzle.
o To supply fuel during idle, an idling system
is built into the carburetor.

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 o This system has an opening in the side of the carburetor below the throttle valve.
o This hole is called idle port.
o The port is connected by a passage to the float bowl or float chamber.
o In addition to the idle port, there is an idle-mixture screw located behind the idle port to
control the amount of mixture discharge through it.
o When the throttle valve is closed and the engine is running, a high vacuum develops in
the intake manifold.
o The pistons are repeatedly moving down on their intake strokes, which mean they are
demanding air-fuel mixture.
o If the pistons do not get enough air-fuel mixture, then a vacuum develops.
o This vacuum is great enough, when the throttle valve is closed, to cause fuel to flow
through the fuel passage from the float bowl to the idle port.
o Air flows down through a passage in the side of the air horn.
o The air mixes with the gasoline flowing out of a connecting passage from the float bowl.
o This mixture moves down to the idle port and discharges in the lower part of the
carburetor (i.e. below the throttle valve). This mixture going to the cylinders.

b) Low Speed System

o If the throttle valve is open just a little for
low speed, the edge of the throttle valve
moves past the idle port.
o More air can flow past the throttle valve
now, reducing the vacuum in the intake
manifold.
o So less fuel flows from the idle port.
o However, the low speed port now comes
into action.
o The throttle valve has moved past and
above the low speed port.
o The vacuum in the intake manifold can
act on the low speed port as well as on
the idle port.
o Both ports discharge fuel to maintain required amount of air-fuel mixture for low speed.

3. Main-Metering System
o If the throttle valve is opened farther, more
air will flow through.
o This means that there will be less vacuum
in the intake manifold.
o As a result, the idle and low speed ports
stop discharging fuel.
o However, with more air flow, there is a
vacuum in the venturi.
o This causes the main nozzle or discharge
jet to discharge fuel.
o Therefore, fuel gets mixed with the air
passing through.

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4. Power System
o When a driver wants full power, the accelerator pedal is pushed to the floor (i.e. to the
maximum position).
o This causes the throttle valve to
open wide.
o Another system in the
carburetor comes into action to
additional fuel.
o This system is called power
system. It includes a metering
rod and a hole, called the
metering rod jet, in which the
rod hangs.
o The metering rod either has two
or more steps of different
diameters or is tapered at its
lower end.
o This restricts the fuel flow by partly blocking the jet. However, enough fuel flows to
provide the proper air-fuel mixture ratio during part-throttle operation (normal running
condition).
5. Acceleration Pump System
o There is another operating condition that
needs a rich mixture.
o This condition occurs when the
accelerator pedal is pushed down
suddenly to increase the speed.
o To get the power needed, the engine has
to be supplied rich mixture immediately.
o This is done by the accelerator pump
system.
o The system includes a pump that is
operated when the accelerator pedal is
depressed.
o The movement causes the pump plunger
to be pushed down.
o Pushing the pump plunger down, forces the fuel to flow out through the pump jet.
o The fuel discharges into the air-fuel mixture that is moving through the carburetor.
o This further enriches the air-fuel mixture.

6 .Choke System
o When a cold engine is being cranked
for starting, extra fuel must be
delivered to the engine.
o The choke valve does this job.
o When the choke valve is turned to the
closed position, very little air can pass
through choke into the air horn.
o Intake manifold vacuum reaches the
main nozzle or discharge jet.

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 o During cranking, this vacuum is great enough to cause the main nozzle or discharge jet to
deliver fuel.
o This fuel mixes with the air passing through the carburetor to get the engine started.
Automobile carburetors
Some of important types of modern carburetors used in automobiles are:-
1. Solex carburetor
2. Cartex carburetor
3. SU carburetor
Drawback of carburetor system
i. Low volumetric efficiency due to restriction of mixture flow across the venturi and other
metering element in air passage
ii. Non-supply of exact A.F ratio at all loads
iii. Distribution of mixture is non-uniform to cylinder in case of multi-cylinder engines due
to resistance to mixture flow in unequal length of intake manifold
iv. Economy of fuel is affected during idling and low load running of the engine.
v. Possibility of back firing at low speeds particularly in multi-cylinder engines
vi. Exhaust emissions are high
vii. Problem of ice formation at low temperatures.
viii. Problem of vapor lock
ix. Gasoline injection systems in SI engine

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 M.P.F.I system for modern Automobile engines

Fuel injection system in CI engines

The main requirements of fuel injection system for compression ignition are:
i. Meter the correct quantity of fuel to be injected per cycle as per the load and speed of
engine
ii. Timing the injection of fuel correctly during the cycle so that maximum power is
obtained at minimum fuel consumption
iii. The rate of injection of fuel should be controlled such that it result into desired heat
release rate during the combustion process
iv. It should atomize the fuel in fine particle
v. Spray pattern should be such that it result into rapid mixing of fuel with air
vi. To ensure the uniform distribution of fuel throughout the combustion chamber
vii. To ensure uniform distribution of metered fuel into each cylinder of a multi-cylinder
engine
viii. The injection of fuel should start and terminate instantaneously. It should avoid any
dribbling of fuel droplets in to cylinder.

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 Types of injection system

1. Air injection system

 Fuel is injected by means of high pressure air at about 70 bar into the combustion
chamber.
 It needs a compressor to supply compressed air and the fuel pump to draw the desired
fuel from fuel tank both to be supplied to the injector
 Fuel pump needs to develop only small pressure.
2. Solid injection or airless injection system
Fuel is directly injected into cylinder without the aid of compressed air.
Main component of solid injection system are:
a) Fuel tank
b) Fuel filter
c) Fuel feed pump to supply fuel to injector
d) Injection pump to meter and pressurize the fuel and supply to injector
e) Governor to ensure that fuel is injected in accordance with variation in load
f) Injector to inject fuel into the cylinder.
2.1. Common-Rail Direct Injection (CRDI) System

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2.2. Individual pump system

2.3. Distributor system

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 Chapter five
Combustion and Combustion Chamber Design
Combustion in IC engines
SI engines
The combustion process in SI engines can be divided into three broad regions:
1. Ignition and flame development.
2. Flame propagation.
3. Flame termination.
 In SI engine a spark ignites the charge in the
combustion chamber near the end of the
compression stroke.
 The spark produced across the spark plug electrodes
at the correct time, must have sufficient energy to
raise the gas temperature between the electrodes at a
point so that the charge burning becomes self-
sustaining.
 From this point, a flame moves smoothly across the
combustion chamber.
 The fame front movement across the combustion
chamber is illustrated in the figure.
 Burning of charge takes place approximately at
about 100 bTDC.
 Due to which maximum cylinder pressure is attained
at about 150 aTDC. Actual combustion is much
more complex and the combustion gases pass
through many phases during the combustion process.
For better understanding, combustion can be divided into
three main stages:
1. Ignition and flame development: - During this stage
of combustion, spark is discharged and pre-flame
chemical reaction takes place.
2. Flame propagation: - In this stage of combustion, the flame front moves out in a modified
spherical path.
This is the period when the bulk mass of air-fuel mixture (chemical energy) is burned.
As a result, temperature and hence pressure within the engine cylinder increases and a
considerable amount of thermal (heat) energy is released.

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This energy exerts a high pressure on the piston head and hence develops a force which pushes
the piston down the cylinder and produces a turning effect on the crankshaft (mechanical
energy).
3. Flame termination: - During this stage of combustion, the flame tends to stop or terminate
as it approaches to the relatively cooler surface of the combustion chamber (quenching
zone).
The normal combustion process inside the combustion chamber and its p- diagram are as
shown in the figure.

Detonation (Knock) and Surface ignition

 Detonation (knock) and surface ignitions are the causes of abnormal combustion
called auto-ignition.
Detonation (knock):- is the outcome of rapid pre-flame reaction within a highly stressed end
gas. Due to highly rapid reactions,
spontaneous ignition of end gas
takes place. This causes too rapid
combustion within combustion
chamber. End gases accompanied
by high-frequency pressure waves.
These waves hit the combustion
chamber walls and results in
vibration, noise and damage on the
component parts of the engine. The
flame front movement during
normal and abnormal combustion
process is as shown in the figure.
Factors affecting Detonation
(knock)

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 i. Compression ratio.
ii. Pressure and temperature at the end of compression.
iii. Temperature of combustion chamber wall.
iv. Engine speed.
v. Mixture strength (A/F or F/A).
vi. Combustion chamber shape.
vii. Type of fuel.
viii. Ignition timing.
ix. Position of spark plugs.
x. Position of valves.
Surface Ignition: - starts at any source of ignition other than the spark plug.
 When surface ignition occurs before firing of the spark plug, it is called pre-ignition.
 If it occurs after the ignition key is turned off, it is called ‘run-on’or ‘dieseling’.
Factors causing Surface Ignition
1. Combustion chamber deposits.
2. Hot spots (e.g.:- spark plug electrode, protruding gasket, sharp valve edges, etc.).
Chambers for SI engines
 A good combustion chamber should give high power output combined with high thermal
efficiency and smooth operation of the engine.
 To achieve these objectives the combustion chamber should possess the following
characteristics:
a) It should give complete utilization of fuel with minimum excess air.
b) It should ensure complete utilization of air and there should be no dead pockets of air.
c) It should provide a large area to the inlet and exhaust valves so that the pressure drop
through the valves is small and the volumetric efficiency is high.
d) It should have a small surface to volume ratio to minimize heat loss.
e) It should possess a compact shape with suitably or centrally located spark plug so that the
flame travel is short.
f) It should have high turbulence and swirl to ensure quick propagation of flame or to
increase the flame velocity.
Some of the combustion chamber designs for SI engines are:
o T and F type combustion chambers.
o Overhead Valve type (I type) combustion chambers.

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Characteristics of combustion chambers
T-type
 Good turbulence.
 Short cylinder block. But,
 Long flame travel and greater
tendency to knock.
 Unsatisfactory air and fuel utilization.
F-type
 Better than T-type but valve operating mechanism is complicated.
Overhead valve (I-type)
 Very high turbulence.
 Smooth operation.
 High volumetric efficiency.
 High output. But more emission.

CI engines
Combustion in CI engines is quite different from that of SI engines. In SI engines mixture is
homogeneous. Whereas, in CI engines mixture is heterogeneous unlike that of SI engines, air
intakes is not throttled in the case of CI engines and hence torque and power output is controlled
not by throttling but by the amount of fuel injected per cycle.
 As only air is contained within the engine cylinder of CI engines during the compression
stroke, much higher compression ratios (18 to 24) can be used since there is no fear of
detonation. As a result of higher compression ratio, higher thermal efficiencies (lower
fuel consumption) can be obtained.
 At the end of compression stroke fuel is injected into the cyliners by injectors. Injection
duration is usually about 200 of crankshaft rotation, starting at about 100 bTDC and
ending at about 100 aTDC.
 In order to assure a proper mixing of air-fuel mixture, high injection velocity, swirl and
turbulence are compulsory.
After injection the fuel must go through a series of events to assure the proper combustion
process:
i. Atomization:- fuel drops break into a very small droplets. The smaller the original drop
size injected by the injector, the quicker and more efficient will be the atomization
process.
ii. Vaporization:- the stage in which the atomized liquid droplets converted to vapor by
absorbing heat from the hot air.

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 iii. Mixing:- the stage in which a vaporized fuel gets mixed with air within the permissible
range of air-fuel ratio (A/F) to assure combustion. Even though the overall mixture
formation in CI engine is lean, locally the mixture can be of very rich and very lean.
iv. Self-ignition:- in this stage of combustion the air-fuel mixture starts to ignite
spontaneously (by itself) at various locations.
v. Combustion:- starts from self-ignition simultaneously at many locations in the slightly
rich zone of air-fuel mixture. When combustion stars, multiple flame fronts spreading
from many self-ignition points quickly. This gives a quick rise in temperature and
pressure within the cylinder.

The Figure shows, cylinder pressure as a function of crank angle for a CI engines.
Point A is starts of fuel injection.
Point A to B is duration of ignition delay.
Point C is end of fuel injection.
Ignition delay:- is the time interval between the evaporation and mixing of the fuel in the
air and the commencement of combustion. It is generally of the order of 0.001 seconds at
a particular intermediate engine speed. However, it varies with the property of the fuel,
the rate of air-fuel mixing and the temperature at the start of injection.
Ignition delay is divided into two parts:
I. Mixing period:- is the time required for atomization, vaporation and physical mixing of
fuel with air.
II. Interaction period:- is a time required for molecular interaction and start of actual
ignition.
Factors affecting ignition delay in CI engines:
o Compression Ratio

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 o Inlet Air Temperature
o Coolant Temperature
o Engine Speed
o Combustion chamber design (Turbulence, Swirl,).
When the engine is running normally, combustion proceeds in three phases:
Phase-1:- During this first phase (immediately following injection), the droplets of fuel tend to
break up more finely and some vaporization occur.
Phase-2:- The second phase begins when flames appear. Since these flames are initiated
simultaneously at a number of locations throughout the combustion chamber, mild (soft) knock
will occur and it is not considered as a serious problem in case of CI engines. This phase is
characterized by rapid rise in pressure at the very beginning (approximated as a constant volume
process) and continues for some short duration of crank angle (approximated as a constant
pressure process) which then begins to drop as the piston starts to descend.
Phase-3:- During the third phase; the piston keeps on descending; the remaining of the fuel is
injected, mixed with air and evaporated and then burned.
 If combustion is taking place abnormally, it tends to detonate.
Diesel knock (detonation) is usually caused due to the accumulation of large quantity of fuel as
a result longer ignition period and large quantity of fuel injection. This may cause a very rapid
chemical reaction which ultimately leads to sudden and simultaneous auto-ignition of the air fuel
mixture and is called diesel knock (detonation). In fact, the very combustion mechanism of diesel
engines are based on the auto-ignition of the charge at various locations and hence mild (soft)
knock is expected and this is the main reason why diesel engines are noisy as compared to SI
engines. But, if the mild (soft) knock exceeds the limit it is may lead to diesel knock
(Detonation).
Combustion chambers for CI engines
The combustion chamber characteristics for CI engines have to satisfy the following objectives
in view of the mechanism of combustion.
Mixing of fuel and air takes place within the combustion chamber in case of CI engines when the
fuel is injected at the end of compression stroke unlike that of SI engine where mixing occurs
within the carburetor. Thus Combustion chamber must provide better mixing of fuel and air
(That means, short physical delay period). Also, the combustion chamber design should assure
proper air swirl and turbulence to increase the rate of fuel-air mixing process.

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Combustion process in CI engines should
be controlled to avoid very high maximum
cylinder pressure and rate of pressure rise
per degree of crank angle.
Combustion should be rapid enough to
burn all fuel very earlier during the
expansion stroke.
In order to attain these objectives, it is
convenient to divide combustion chamber
designs or forms into two broad
classifications:
1. Open combustion chamber (DI)
2. Divided combustion chamber (IDI)
1. Open combustion chamber
In these types of combustion chambers, the combustion space is essentially one single cavity
without any restrictions which are so small as to cause pressure differences between different
parts of the combustion chamber during combustion process. In these types of combustion
chambers, mixing of fuel and air is dependent only on the spray characteristics and on air motion
or air swirl. Hence, it is not affected by the combustion process.
For a selected value of compression ratio and maximum operating temperature, the ignition delay
is mainly determined by the characteristics of the fuel. Thus, for these types of combustion
(quiescent) chambers fuels of high ignition quality (high cetene number or short ignition delay
period) are used. In case of high speed and small cylinder CI engines, mixing is assisted by
‘swirl’. M.A.N. (swirl) combustion chamber differs from other types of open chamber is that
fuel spray impinges tangentially on to the piston bowl.
2. Divided combustion chamber
Some of the limitations associated with open combustion chambers
are: poor starting, poor ignition quality (high noise) and poor fuel
economy. In order to overcome some of these shortcomings, the
divided combustion chambers are developed mainly for use in high
speed small engines.
A divided combustion chamber is the one in which the combustion
chamber is divided in two compartments (pre-chamber and main
chamber). The pre-chamber is fitted with an injector and a glow plug
to improve cold starting behavior of the engine. Combustion is
initiated in this chamber and then propagated into the main chamber.
Some of the characteristics of such combustion chambers are:
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 I. Extremely high air velocity through the throat during compression stroke due to
turbulence and swirl in the pre- chamber greatly assists the rapid mixing of fuel and air.
II. The first and the second stage of combustion take place within the pre-
chamber whose structure is strong enough to withstand very high pressure.
III. The pre-chamber can run at very high temperatures. It usually has a high heat resistant
inserts of stainless steel and loose fitted so that the thermal connection with the cylinder
body is poor. As a result, fuels with poor quality can also burn.
Comparisons of Open (DI) and Divided (IDI) combustion chambers
Open combustion chamber Divided combustion chamber
i) Consumes fuels of good ignition i) Consumes also fuels of poor
quality (fuels of shorter ignition ignition quality (fuels of larger
delay or higher cetane number). ignition delay or lower cetane
ii) Requires higher injection pressure number).
and multiple holes injection nozzle ii) Requires moderate injection
for proper mixing of fuel and air. pressure and uses single hole
iii) Sensitive to fuel spray injection nozzle. It also tolerates
characteristics. greater degree of nozzle fouling.
iv) Mixing of fuel and air is not so iii) Insensitive to fuel spray
efficient and hence high A/F ratio characteristics.
is not feasible without smoke. iv) Ability to use higher A/F ratio
v) Cylinder construction is simple without considerable smoke.
vi) Poor cold starting. v) Cylinder construction is not simple
relatively cheaper. and is
expensive
vi) Good cold starting.

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 Chapter Seven
Ignition System
Ignition fundamentals and requirements of ignition system
How does a spark can be caused?
A spark can be caused by applying a sufficiently high voltage between two electrodes separated by a gap,
and there is a critical voltage below which no sparking occurs.
Functions of this critical voltage:
 dimension of the gap between the electrodes
 the fuel-air ratio
 Pressure of the gas.
 Under normal atmospheric (101 k Pa) conditions a voltage of 2 to 3 kV is required for a spark
to jump across an air gap of 0.6 mm.

While designing an ignition system the most important factors to be considered include:
 Combustion chamber design
 Air-fuel ratio
 Engine speed range.
 Engine load.
 Engine combustion temperature.
 Intended use.
 Emission regulations.

The requirements of such an ignition system are:

a) It should provide a good spark between the electrodes of the plugs at the correct timing.
b) It should function efficiently over the entire range of engine speed.
c) It should be light, effective and reliable in service.
d) It should be compact and easy to maintain.
e) It should be cheap and convenient to handle.
f) The interference from the high voltage source should not affect the functioning of the radio and
television receivers inside an automobile.

Types of ignition system

i. battery ignition systems

The energy required for producing spark is obtained from a 6 or12 volt battery.
The essential components of the system are:
a) Battery: provide electrical energy for ignition, a storage battery is used. How does we charge
the battery.
b) Ignition switch: turned on or off the ignition system.
c) ballast resistor: regulate the primary current
d) Ignition coil: stores the energy in its magnetic field and delivers it at the appropriate time in
the form of a ignition pulse through the high-tension ignition cables to the respective spark
 plug. The purpose of the ignition coil is to step up the 6 or 12 volts of the battery to a high
voltage, sufficient to induce an electric spark across the electrodes of the spark plug.
e) Contact breaker: A contact breaker is a mechanical switch, activated by a rotating cam
that makes or breaks the ignition circuit to send a spark to the spark plug. The contact
breaker is a mechanical device in the distributor system and is used to break the circuit.
f) Capacitor: stores an electrical charge and then discharges it through an ignition coil in
order to produce a powerful spark from the spark plugs in a petrol engine.
g) Distributor: to distribute the ignition surges to the individual spark plugs in the correct
sequence and at the correct instants in time.
h) spark plug: provides the two electrodes with a proper gap across which the high potential
discharges to generate a spark and ignite the combustible mixture

ii. Magneto ignition systems

Magneto is a special type of ignition system with its own electric generator to provide the necessary
energy for the system. Magneto ignition system is an ignition system in which magneto is used produces
high voltage for the generation of electricity and further that electricity is used in several things like to
run the vehicles. This is basically used in two-wheeler vehicles (Spark Ignition Engine) nowadays.

Modern ignition systems

1. Transistorized Coil Ignition (TCI) System
2. Capacitive Discharge Ignition (CDI) System
Firing order
Firing order: is the order in which various cylinders of a multi-cylinder engine fire.
Firing order depends upon: number of cylinders and throws of the crankshaft.

There are three factors which must be considered before deciding the optimum firing order of an engine.
These are:
1. engine vibrations
2. engine cooling and
3. development of back pressure

 In four cylinder type of engines: If the next cylinder fired is cylinder number 2, this
imbalance in load on the two bearings would further aggravate the problem of balancing of
the crankshaft vibrations.

 When the first cylinder is fired its temperature increases. If the next cylinder that fires is
number 2, the portion of the engine between the cylinder number 1 and 2 gets overheated.
Thus we see that the task of the cooling system becomes very difficult because it is then,
required to cool more at one place than at other places and this imposes great strain on the
cooling system.

 Next, consider the flow of exhaust gases in the exhaust pipe. After firing the first cylinder,
exhaust gases flow out to the exhaust pipe. If the next cylinder fired is the cylinder number 2,
we find that before the gases exhausted by the first cylinder go out of the exhaust pipe the
gases exhausted from the second cylinder try to overtake them. This would require that the
 exhaust pipe be made bigger. Otherwise the back pressure in it would increase and the
possibility of back flow would arise.

For four-cylinder engines the possible firing orders are: 1 − 3 − 4 − 2 or 1 − 2 − 4 – 3

For a six-cylinder engine the firing orders can be:
1 − 5 − 3 − 6 − 2 − 4 or 1 − 5 − 4 − 6 − 2 − 3 or
1 − 2 − 4 − 6 − 5 − 3 or 1 − 2 − 3 − 6 − 5 – 4

Ignition timing and engine parameters

What is ignition lag? Ignition lag is the time interval between the passage of spark and the ignition of
the fuel-air mixture?

Factors that ignition lag depends on:

 Compression ratio
 mixture strength
 throttle opening
 engine temperature
 combustion chamber design
 speed

 Important engine parameters affecting the ignition timings:

o Engine Speed
o Mixture Strength
o Part Load Operation
o Type of Fuel

Ignition timing and exhaust emissions

What are the conditions that produce excessive unburnt hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide in exhaust?
a) Idling
b) Deceleration
c) Running rich

 Emission quality is greatly affected by the ignition timing.

 The ignition timing is measured in degrees of a crankshaft rotation before top dead center
(BDTC).

Retarding ignition timing at idle tends to reduce exhaust emission in two ways. With retarded timing,
exhaust gas temperatures are higher (fuel economy is adversely affected), thereby promoting additional
burning of the hydrocarbon in the exhaust manifold. (The number of degrees of crank angle before T DC
at the time of ignition is decreased and the spark occurs closer to TDC).

Ignition timing advancing means that the spark plugs are firing earlier in the compression stroke, farther
from TDC.