Interesting plug idea, no ignition needed?

http://www.smartplugs.com/leanburn/index.html


RODNEY BINGHAM


Its not a spark plug. Its a glow plug. No control over when it fires.
A low compression AC piston engine will tolerate this but you must
mix nitrometane and maybe methanol in the  fuel.

Glow plugs are widely used in  diesels to improve the starting.

Have you every had a model airplane engine?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_engine


"Glow plugs  are used for starting as well as continuing the power
cycle. The glow plug consists of a durable, mostly platinum ,
helically wound wire filament , within a cylindrical pocket in the
plug body, exposed to the combustion chamber . A small direct current
voltage  (around 1.5 volts) is applied to the glow plug, the engine
is then started, and the voltage is removed. The burning of the
fuel/air mixture  in a glow-plug model engine, which requires
methanol  for the glow plug to work in the first place, and sometimes
with the use of nitromethane  for greater power output and steadier
idle, occurs due to the catalytic  reaction of the methanol vapor to
the presence of the platinum in the filament, thus causing the
ignition. This keeps the plug's filament glowing hot, and allows it
to ignite the next charge. Since the ignition timing is not
controlled electrically, as in a spark ignition  engine or by fuel
injection , as in an ordinary diesel , it must be adjusted by the
richness of the mixture, the ratio of nitromethane to methanol, the
compression ratio , the cooling of the cylinder head , the type of
glow plug, etc. A richer mixture will tend to cool the filament and
so retard ignition, slowing the engine, and a rich mixture also eases
starting. After starting the engine can easily be leaned (by
adjusting a needle valve  in the spray bar) to obtain maximum power.
Glow plug engines are also known as nitro engines. Nitro engines
require a 1.5 volt igniter to light the glow plug in the heat sink .
Once primed, pulling the starter with the igniter in will start the
engine."

I guess you could turn it on just before you need ignition. This
scheme might work for the trailing plug in a rotary.

Paul Lamar
     Hi Paul!: you pointed yourself not long ago that your continuous spark electronic ignition
   system may be acting in a similar way as the Glow-Plug placed in the leading plug hole
  in the SAE paper 790435, by Toshiyuki Kohno et al, fromToyota:
   'Analysis of Light-Load Performance in Rotary Engines', ($24 in sae.org)they claimed a 7%
   improvement in fuel economy just by substituting a Glow-Plug for the
   ordinary Spark plug.
    Are there Glow-Plugs fitting a common spark-plug hole, and able to endure
   hours of continued Glow operation in a gasoline/oil mix fueled engine available
    in the market?
   Where, at what price?
       Thanks for your kind attention. Best regards. Salud †
       Jose Gros-Aymerich
       E-28033 Madrid, Spain

    Is there a place for buying plugs, seals and other spare parts for the OMC line of rotaries?

I have no idea.

Paul Lamar

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