a research paper on plasma ignition

[turbotrana]

thought this may be of interest to some. It shows that there are benefits of the plasma corona ignition. Pretty much what I expected and all I was hoping for. I have a Aquapulsa on order and will publish real world testing using a programable engine management system.

http://www.metrans.org/research/final/07-20%20Final.pdf

[rosco1]

Going over old ground...

thought this may be of interest to some. It shows that there are benefits of the plasma corona ignition. Pretty much what I expected and all I was hoping for. I have a Aquapulsa on order and will publish real world testing using a programable engine management system.

http://www.metrans.org/research/final/07-20%20Final.pdf

Not sure what you're attempting, and not sure if you're aware of it, but the tests you seem to be proposing were already carried out in both Qld and NSW in 2010.

The biggest problem you'll have, is in finding a suitable authority to verify/certify the results.

It became clear to us that the only authority on the east coast of Australia able to do this, is NSW RTA Emission Testing Facility, situated at 5 Lord Street, Botany, NSW.

There doesn't appear to be an authority higher than that.

We conducted the tests using an Aquapulser plasma gen @ 4.7uF, and then repeated the tests @ 1 Joule. Fuels used were regular unleaded and LPG.
We also tested some custom made plugs, as well as some off the shelf plugs.

The findings were found to be positive, and are duly certified on NSW RTA documents as "valid".

As a footnote, the people at Botany were highly skeptical of our claims, and told us that they've been party to the testing of hundreds of different "gadgets" over the years, and that in something like 12 years, they'd never seen a single "gadget" that works at lowering emissions "across the board".

It was explained to us in plain terms, that "if you decrease one emission, you increase another, in a see-saw effect", which is of course quite correct.

We pressed on regardless and conducted our tests. (We set up the vehicle between dyno runs, and the RTA staff do the actual driving/testing/recording)

The test results came in, and it was confirmed that we had in fact succeeded in decreasing emissions "across the board", to certain percentages, thus we were congratulated and told that if ever we wish to use the facility again, it would be made freely available to us.

[ashtweth]

Rosco great , thanks for the report mate, Decreasing all emissions usually takes a lot of mods, CO is a pain in the backside, the spark plug and those circuits looks to be universal , now we just need to find a way to get it out there with out the BS that goes with it all.

This would also mean a cheaper rego or subsidy could be warranted to reduce the carbon footprint. If you ever find that piece of paper mate please keep it so i can work some magic.

Ash

[vrand]

thought this may be of interest to some. It shows that there are benefits of the plasma corona ignition. Pretty much what I expected and all I was hoping for. I have a Aquapulsa on order and will publish real world testing using a programable engine management system.

http://www.metrans.org/research/final/07-20%20Final.pdf

That USC research paper mentions brass as one ideal electrode material for creating their plasma.

It depends on the plasma type being created. Please post your findings on the Aquapulser unit.

Ed Grays Power Conversion Tube used copper, carbon and silver for his electrodes:



cheers
Mike

[turbotrana]

So I got the Aquapulsa Sparkamp unit today. Very easy to install. The spark compared to the standard spark was very substantial. But even so, at this very early stage of testing I can see no benefit for my intended use, namely ""lean burn"'.

My main purpose of a strong ignition system was for fuel economy improvements. I was hoping that the extra spark would allow me to lean off the air/fuel ratio even 1/4 of a a/f ratio. I dont think it changed it one bit.

I tuned a slight lean spot at around 1500rpm and cruise Kpa with stock spark. THis is 16+ :1 a/f ratio, my mixture meter only goes to 16:1. Its only the slightest of stumbles.

With the unit switched on no difference with the stumble.

It did surprise me as I did expect to extend the lean running limit. In the past I have experiemented with spark output and spark tip projection and had noticible results with extending the lean limit.

But for some reason this plasma aint doing what I expected. I will be doing the economy thing in the coming weeks. Gonna have to put it on a dyno at some stage also.

[maxc]

So I got the Aquapulsa Sparkamp unit today. Very easy to install. The spark compared to the standard spark was very substantial. But even so, at this very early stage of testing I can see no benefit for my intended use, namely ""lean burn"'.

My main purpose of a strong ignition system was for fuel economy improvements. I was hoping that the extra spark would allow me to lean off the air/fuel ratio even 1/4 of a a/f ratio. I dont think it changed it one bit.

I tuned a slight lean spot at around 1500rpm and cruise Kpa with stock spark. THis is 16+ :1 a/f ratio, my mixture meter only goes to 16:1. Its only the slightest of stumbles.

With the unit switched on no difference with the stumble.

It did surprise me as I did expect to extend the lean running limit. In the past I have experiemented with spark output and spark tip projection and had noticible results with extending the lean limit.

But for some reason this plasma aint doing what I expected. I will be doing the economy thing in the coming weeks. Gonna have to put it on a dyno at some stage also.

Did you open the sparkplug gap? How many volts dose your system put too the plug before the HV kicks in?

[turbotrana]

spark is at 1.1mm ATM. I will experiment with a larger gap but being a turbo engine which will be running 20psi boost, I dont think I can open the gap too much as the secondary plasma spark relies on the original ignition system spark to fire.

But for experimental purposes I will open it up to see how it goes under cruise.

The ignition system is basically a Ford Thick Film Ignition setup.

[luishan]

Is this setup right ? A or B ?

Hello !
This post for Mr. Aaron.
I read your book "The Ignition Secrets".
After I read your book, I try to install the plasma setup.
But I have a question regarding the diode string hook up method.
I upload two kind hook up diagram that A and B.

Which ways is correct hook up method ? A or B ?

A has only one diode string for plasma ignition and
B is hook up the diode string each spark plugs.
Please help me right method.
Thank you.

Luis