A Multi-Mode Plasma Pilot

This paper describes a new type of plasma ignition and flame control system. The main features of the plasmatron operation modes are extremely low average current (about 0.1 A) and low average power (less than 100 W). However, it demonstrates reliable ignition and flame stabilization in a wide range of equivalence ratios. Physical mechanism of ignition is associated with the non-steady state properties of discharge. At a low current level discharge burns in a kind of glow mode and because of the glow-to-spark transition the high-current nanosecond pulses are superimposed on the glow plasma background. Then spark discharge initiates combustion process, which is efficiently sustained in the glow plasma. The plasma pilot based on this principle is described. I