Spontaneous ignition delays of propane injected into a hot air stream.

Owing to its significant effect on fire hazards of combustible materials and the performance of internal combustion engines, spontaneous ignition has been studied since the beginning of this century. Early workers however aimed mainly at determining the ignition temperature, and it was not until recent years that ignition delay has received due attention and formed a subject of research in its own right. Dixon, Bradshaw and Campbell (Ref. 1) using an adiabatic compression apparatus in 1914, were the first to recognize the existence of a ‘pre-flame period’