IGNITION :

REQUIREMENTS AND
TYPES
 INTRODUCTION
• The system in an internal combustion
engine that produces the spark to ignite
the mixture of fuel and air is known as
the ignition system.

• The function of the ignition system is to

produce 30,000-volt sparks across spark
plugs and distribute high-voltage sparks
to each spark plug in the correct
sequence.

2
RQUIREMENTS OF AN IGNITION SYSTEM

The requirements of an ignition system are:

 It should provide a good spark between the electrodes of

the plugs at the correct timing.

 It should function efficiently over the entire range of

engine speed.

 It should be light, effective and reliable in service.

 It should be compact and easy to maintain.

 It should be cheap and convenient to handle.

 The interference from the high voltage source should not

affect the functioning of the radio and television receivers
inside an automobile. 3
CLASSIFICATION OF IGNITION SYSTEM

Depending upon how the primary energy for operating the

circuit is made available the ignition systems are classified
as:

1. Battery ignition system.

2. Magneto ignition system.

But in order to overcome the problems in the conventional ignition

system modern ignition systems are used. In modern automobiles
following two types are in common use:

a) Transistorized coil ignition system (TCI system)

b)Capacitive discharge ignition system (CDI system)
RQUIREMENTS OF AN IGNITION SYSTEM

The requirements of an ignition system are:

 It should provide a good spark between the electrodes of the

plugs at the correct timing.

 It should function efficiently over the entire range of engine

speed.

 It should be light, effective and reliable in service.

 It should be compact and easy to maintain.

 It should be cheap and convenient to handle.

 The interference from the high voltage source should not affect
the functioning of the radio and television receivers inside an
automobile.
1. Battery ignition system

 In this system the energy required for producing spark is

obtained from a 6 or 12 v battery.

 Passenger cars, light trucks, some motorcycles and large

stationary engines are fitted with battery ignition systems.

 The essential components of this system are:

 Battery  Contact
 Ignition breaker
switch  Capacitor
 Ballast  Distributo
resistor r
 Ignition  Spark
coil plug
1.1 Battery

 To provide electrical
energy for ignition, a
storage battery is used.

 It is charged by a dynamo
driven by the engine.

 Two types of batteries are

used for spark-ignition
engines, the lead acid
battery and the alkaline
battery.

 The former is used in light

duty commercial vehicles
and the later on heavy duty
commercial vehicles
1.2 Ignition Switch

 Battery is connected to the

primary winding of the
ignition coil through an
ignition switch and ballast
resistor.
 With the help of the
ignition switch the ignition
system can be turned on or
off.
1.3 Ballast Resistor

 A ballast resistor is provided in series with the

primary winding to regulate the primary
current.

 The object of this is to prevent injury to the

spark coil by overheating if the engine should
be operated for a long time at low speed, or
should be stalled with the breaker in the closed
position.

 This coil is made of iron wire, and iron has the

property that its electrical resistance increases
very rapidly if a certain temperature is
exceeded
1.4 Ignition Coil

 Ignition coil is the source of

ignition energy in the
conventional ignition system.

 This coil stores the energy

in its magnetic field and
delivers it at the appropriate
time in the form of an
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
1.4 Contact Breaker

 This is a mechanical device

for making the primary
circuit of the ignition coil.

 It consists essentially of a
fixed metal point against
which, another metal point
bears which is being on a
spring loaded pivoted arm.

 The pivoted arm has,

generally, a heel or a
rounded part of some hard
plastic material attached in
the middle and this heel
bears on the cam which is
driven by the engine.
1.5 Capacitor

 The capacitor is just like the normal electric capacitor.

 Typically, it stores electrical energy in an electric field. In the

component, two metal plates are separated from each other
through the air.

 It’s made of insulating material.

 The function of the capacitor in the system is to prevent the arc

from across the breaker point.

 The absence of a capacitor in the system will make induce voltage

to cause an arc across the breaker point. This might be very
dangerous.
1.6 Distributor

 The function of the distributor is to distribute the ignition

surges to the individual spark plugs in the correct
sequence and at the correct instants in time.

 Depending on whether a particular engine has 4, 6 or 8

cylinders, there are 4, 6 or 8 ignition pulses (surges)
generated for every rotation of the distributor shaft.

 The use of a distributor represents a considerable

simplification in a battery ignition system because in most
cases we want to use only a single ignition circuit.
1.7 Spark Plug

 The 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 within the
combustion chamber.

 A spark plug consists essentially of a steel

shell, an insulator and two electrodes.

 Spark plugs are usually classified as hot plugs

or cold plugs depending upon the relative
operating temperature range of the tip of the
high tension electrode.
Limitation

 Sparking voltage drop at high-speed operation of the engine,

due to the limitation of current switching capability .
 The stored energy on the coil decreases at high speed due to
decrease in time available for building up the current in the
primary coil.
 Battery requires periodical maintenance.
 In case of battery malfunction, engine cannot be started
2. Magneto Ignition System
 Magneto is a special type of
ignition system with its own
electric generator to provide
the necessary energy for the
system.

 A magneto when rotated by

the engine is capable of
producing a very high voltage
and does not need a battery as
a source of external energy.

 . It is mounted on the engine

and replaces all the
components of the coil ignition
system except the spark plug.
 Magneto can be either rotating armature type or rotating magnet
type.

 Armature type consists of the primary and secondary windings

that rotate between the poles of a stationary magnet and in the
rotating magnet type the magnet revolves and the windings are
kept stationary.

 A third type of magneto called the polar inductor type is also in

use. In this type both the magnet and the windings remain
stationary but the voltage is generated by reversing the flux field
with the help of soft iron polar projections.
Limitation
 The wirings carry a very high voltage and thus there is a strong
possibility of causing engine misfire due to leakage. To avoid this
the high tension wires must be suitably shielded.

 The initial cost is more.

 It takes time to ignite due to its slow speed which makes the engine
very sluggish at startup.
3. Modern Ignition System
In order to overcome the problems in the conventional ignition
systems modern ignition systems use electronic circuits. In modern
automobiles the following two types are in common use.

 Transistorized coil ignition system (TCI system)

 Capacitive discharge ignition system (CDI system)
3.1. Transistorized Coil Ignition System

 The transistorized coil ignition

systems provide a higher output
voltage and use electronic
triggering to maintain the required
timing. These systems are also
called high energy electronic
ignition systems.
 The contact breaker and the cam
assembly of the conventional
ignition system are replaced by a
magnetic pulse generating system
which detects the distributor shaft
position and sends electrical pulse
to an electronic control module.
3.2. Capacitive discharge ignition system

 In this system, a capacitor rather than an

induction coil is used to store the ignition
energy.
 The capacitance and charging voltage of
the capacitor determine the amount of
stored energy.
 The CDI trigger box contains the
capacitor, thyristor power switch,
charging device pulse shaping unit and
control unit.
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