A repetitive pulsed electrothermal plasma jet ignition system based on capillary discharge

Plasma ignition and combustion enhancement is a promising technology in applications of engines, industrial burners, pollutant emissions controls, etc. A new repetitive electrothermal plasma jet ignition system based on ablated capillary discharge under atmospheric pressure is presented in this paper. It consists of a capillary discharge module, a pulse current circuit, a pulse voltage circuit, a current release unit, an LC series resonant circuit, and a control system. The effects of the energy storage capacitor’s voltage and resistance in the current release unit on the electrical parameters are investigated. Increasing the capacitor voltage helps to shorten the discharge delay and increase the energy deposition efficiency in the main discharge process. The increase of the resistance in the current release unit leads to a longer discharge delay and higher energy deposition efficiency in the main discharge process. Balanced parameters between the delay of discharge in 66 µs and the energy deposition efficiency in 84% are achieved through optimization, with a peak radiative heat flux of 23 MW m−2 and a maximum jet length of 17 cm. Repetitive capillary discharge at 20 Hz under atmospheric pressure is achieved with the dispersion of energy storage capacitor charging voltage and energy deposition efficiency of 0.3% and 9.6%, respectively. Simplified circuit topology and control logic contribute to the miniaturization of the ignition system.