AbstractThis paper investigates the ignition performances of plasma-assisted ignition in propane/air mixture. The results show that a shorter ignition delay time is obtained for the plasma ignition than the spark ignition and the average ignition delay time of plasma-assisted ignition can be reduced at least by 50%. The influence of air flow rate of combustor, the arc current and argon flow rate of plasma igniter on ignition delay time are also investigated. The ignition delay time of plasma-assisted ignition increases with increasing air flow rate in the combustor. By increasing the arc current, the plasma ignition will gain more ignition energy to ignite the mixture more easily. The influence of plasma ignition argon flow rates on the ignition delay time is quite minor.
