What is Compression Ignition?

My STEM project objective is to research and understand the mechanics that happen in an internal combustion engine, where fuel is ignited using the heat coming from rapidly compressed air.

• Explain what happens in the engine using a miniature model of a combustion piston/fire syringe.

• A compression ignition type of engine operates by burning its fuel inside the engine itself.

• The most common internal combustion engines are diesel fueled.

  1. In a diesel engine engine, a mixture of fuel and air is sprayed into a cylinder.

  2. It is compressed by a piston then the pressure and ignites the fuel.

  3. The combustion of fuel results in the generation of heat, so the gases in the cylinder becomes hot, causing the air molecules to move faster and creates a high pressure that pushes the piston back down.

  4. The combusted gases exit through an exhaust valve then a new oxygenized mixture of fuel comes in and the process repeats again.

Materials:

Steps:

1)Place cotton into the fire syringe

2)Position the piston into the combustion chamber

3)Quickly press down on the piston to compress the air in the chamber

4)Combusted cotton/air caused an explosion within the chamber