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THE PHYSICS AND APPLICATION OF COMPACT PULSED POWER TO
TRANSIENT PLASMA IGNITION
by
Daniel R. Singleton
________________________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING)
August 2010
Copyright 2010 Daniel R. Singleton
Object Description
| Title | The physics and application of compact pulsed power to transient plasma ignition |
| Author | Singleton, Daniel R. |
| Author email | dsinglet@usc.edu; daniel.r.singleton@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Electrical Engineering |
| School | Viterbi School of Engineering |
| Date defended/completed | 2010-06-28 |
| Date submitted | 2010 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2010-08-05 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Gundersen, Martin |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Steier, William H. Wang, Hai |
| Abstract | This dissertation presents an experimental study of the application and the underlying physics of transient plasma ignition. Transient plasma generated by nanosecond electrical discharges has demonstrated lean-burn capability and reductions in ignition delay in a variety of engines, resulting in higher combustion efficiencies and lowered emissions compared to conventional spark ignition. The experiments performed demonstrate the effects of transient plasma ignition and attempt to understand the basic physics behind it by examining the production of radicals, conditions for ignition, and combustion characteristics.; Critical to the study of the application of transient plasma is the enabling technology: pulsed power systems. To realize this technology in aircraft and automobile engines, the size, weight, cost, reliability, and electrical energy consumption of the pulsed power systems must be comparable to that of the current spark ignition systems. To that end, a compact, solid state 12 ns pulse generator was developed and successfully implemented in transient plasma ignition experiments.; Transient plasma was applied in both quiescent and flowing fuel-air mixtures in a pulse detonation engine (PDE), an internal combustion engine (ICE), and a constant volume reactor. Reduced ignition delays and lean-burn capability were demonstrated. A 12 ns, 70 mJ pulse was used achieve similar gains as those produced by an 85 ns, 800 mJ pulse, which means that more compact pulse generators may be used for this application. It was demonstrated that water inhibits the performance of TPI, and optical diagnostic techniques were used to determine that this was due to a significant decrease in production of atomic oxygen, which plays an important role in enhancing combustion kinetics.; It was demonstrated that after a transient plasma discharge, ignition kernels are formed at the ends of spatially separated streamer channels, where there is an enhanced reduced electric field (hundreds of Td) and significant energy transferred into electronically excited species. Evidence is presented that transient plasma ignition occurs in two phases; a distinct non-thermal phase of ignition, wherein the efficient production of electronically excited species accelerates reaction rates, and a subsequent thermal phase, driven by exothermic fuel oxidation in reactions with free radicals and the decay of active species. It is concluded that TPI has the potential to improve combustion efficiency compared to traditional spark ignition for wide-ranging applications to engine technology. |
| Keyword | non-equilibrium plasma; transient plasma; pulsed power; transient plasma ignition; nanosecond discharge; combustion efficiency; ignition |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3289 |
| Rights | Singleton, Daniel R. |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/ |
| Filename | etd-Singleton-3848 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume40/etd-Singleton-3848.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | THE PHYSICS AND APPLICATION OF COMPACT PULSED POWER TO TRANSIENT PLASMA IGNITION by Daniel R. Singleton ________________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING) August 2010 Copyright 2010 Daniel R. Singleton |
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