Abstract
INVESTIGATIONS of the conditions for ignition of inflammable gas by electrical sparking have usually been carried out with discharges produced in one of two ways: (i) by discharging a capacitor charged to a high voltage between thin fixed electrodes separated by several millimetres; (ii) by breaking low-voltage circuits at the contacts of a mechanical switch (or ‘break-flash’). It has been found that less electrical energy need be dissipated in the discharge to ignite the gas if the first of these methods is adopted; for example, an 8.3 per cent mixture of methane in air can be ignited by about 0.3 mJ. by the first method, whereas an energy of about 2 mJ. is required if the second method is used.
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GORDON, R., LORD, H. & WIDGINTON, D. Ignition of Gas by Sparks produced by breaking Wires at High Speed. Nature 191, 1085–1086 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/1911085a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1911085a0
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