In this 13-part series, The Combustion Institute recognizes the Distinguished Papers selected from among the scientific papers presented during the 37th International Symposium on Combustion. Congratulations to Minh K. Le, Atsushi Nishiyama, and Yuji Ikeda for winning the DPA in the Other Concepts colloquium.
Their authoritative paper, Evaluation of a novel miniaturised resonating igniter: The Flat Panel Igniter, has furthered research on the ignition performance of a new miniaturised igniter that operates based on microwave resonance phenomenon. This igniter, named Flat Panel Igniter (FPI), consists of a flat ceramic panel with a metal strip inlay on the top surface acting as a resonance cavity. The FPI has been developed as a potential spark plug replacement for modern and future gasoline engines.
The results show that FPI requires much less ignition energy than spark plug at any given equivalence ratio. Furthermore, at the same energy, ignition with FPI results in a faster ignition delay and a shorter burnt duration. FPI ignition also allows for better lean limit as the ignition energy increases.
To meet the increasingly stringent emissions regulations, gasoline engine developers and manufacturers are looking toward many different approaches such as downsized ultra-lean burning, high Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) percentage, high tumble-long stroke.
The research was conducted at Imagineering, Inc. in Kobe, Japan.
Over 1,600 papers were submitted to the 37th Symposium in 13 combustion science colloquia. Those papers were categorized by teams of colloquium coordinators and co-chairs, and then distributed to approximately 1,000 scientific reviewers. One paper in each discipline was awarded the recognition of Distinguished Paper.
The 13 Distinguished Papers undergo committee review for consideration to receive the Silver Combustion Medal that will be awarded during the 38th International Symposium in Adelaide, Australia. A paper selected for this honor exemplifies quality, achievement, and significance to advance a field of combustion science. Distinguished papers are selected biennially from among the scientific papers presented during the International Symposium on Combustion and accepted for publication in the Proceedings of The Combustion Institute.