Measurement of Spark Light Emission Using an Optical Combustion Sensor

Abstract

Achieving expected future exhaust emission and fuel consumption standards for passenger cars will require fundamental improvements in the combustion process for spark ignition engines. improvements must be made in not only fuel-injection but also spark-ignition devices based on precise studies of the engine-combustion process. Real-time measurement of light emssion of spark and igition kernel in an actual automotive engine is currently very few. In this paper, a real-time method using an optical combustion sensor that combines fiber optics with a conventional spark plug is presented. It is shown that intensity of light emission of spark is related to the spark voltage, and is changed according to the mixture temperature and engine load.