Effect of Spark Advance on a Gas Run Automotive Spark Ignition Engine

Abstract

Petrol engines can run on natural gas, with little modification. The combustion characteristics of naturalgas is different from that of petrol, which eventually affects the engine performance. The performance of atypical automotive engine was studied running on natural gas, firstly at a constant speed for various loadsand then at a constant load for a range of speeds and results were compared with performance using petrol.Variation of the spark advance, consisting of centrifugal and vacuum advance mechanisms, wasinvestigated. Results showed some reduction in power and slight fall of efficiency and higher exhausttemperature, for natural gas. The air-fuel ratio for optimum performance was higher for gas than for petrol.This variation in spark requirement is mainly due to the slower speed of flame propagation for natural gas.For both the cases, the best power spark advance for natural gas was found to have higher values thanpetrol. This issue needs to be addressed during retrofitting petrol engines for running on natural gas.Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.ChE 24 2006 42-49