I ran across this information the other day and I thought it might
generate a little discussion about the future changes coming world wide to
engines:
Ion Sense technology was developed by Saab and Mecel and has been used on
Saab production vehicles. Information about the combustion process is
determined by applying a voltage to the spark plug gap shortly after the
completion of a spark event. The resulting current signal is directly
related to the characteristics of the burning fuel. Using various signal
analysis techniques, one can infer engine performance and operating
parameters from this ion current signal.
Ion Sense technology is planned to be used in future systems to provide
functionality including:
Cylinder Identification (power stroke vs. intake stroke)
Cylinder Misfire (regulated diagnostics)
Combustion Quality (to determine lean / dilute combustion limit)
Knock Detection (spark timing control)
Air / Fuel Ratio sensing (stratified operation control).
Will Daehler
Delco Electronics
wfdaehle@mail.delcoelect.com
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