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A spark on a spark plug Lightning is a natural example of an electric spark. An electric spark is an abrupt electrical discharge that occurs when a sufficiently high electric field creates an ionized, electrically conductive channel through a normally-insulating medium, often air or other gases or gas mixtures.
Simultaneous presence of flammable vapors and flammable dust can significantly decrease the ignition energy; a mere 1 vol.% of propane in air can reduce the required ignition energy of dust by 100 times. Higher than normal oxygen content in atmosphere also significantly lowers the ignition energy. [32] There are five types of electrical discharges:
Sparks are an ignition source in combustible environments that may lead to catastrophic explosions in concentrated fuel environments. Most explosions can be traced back to a tiny electrostatic discharge, whether it was an unexpected combustible fuel leak invading a known open air sparking device, or an unexpected spark in a known fuel rich ...
The autoignition temperature or self-ignition temperature, often called spontaneous ignition temperature or minimum ignition temperature (or shortly ignition temperature) and formerly also known as kindling point, of a substance is the lowest temperature at which it spontaneously ignites in a normal atmosphere without an external source of ignition, such as a flame or spark. [1]
The creation of sparks from metals is based on the pyrophoricity of small metal particles, and pyrophoric alloys are made for this purpose. [2] Practical applications include the sparking mechanisms in lighters and various toys, using ferrocerium; starting fires without matches, using a firesteel; the flintlock mechanism in firearms; and spark testing ferrous metals.
A spark plug.The spark gap is at the bottom. A spark plug uses a spark gap to initiate combustion.The heat of the ionization trail, but more importantly, UV radiation and hot free electrons (both cause the formation of reactive free radicals) [citation needed] ignite a fuel-air mixture inside an internal combustion engine, or a burner in a furnace, oven, or stove.
Piezoelectric balance presented by Pierre Curie to Lord Kelvin, Hunterian Museum, Glasgow. Piezoelectricity [note 1] is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials—such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA, and various proteins—in response to applied mechanical stress.
Any fuel-air mixture higher than this would be too concentrated to result in combustion. The values existing between these two limits represent the flammable or explosive range. Within this threshold, give an external ignition source, combustion of the particular fuel would likely happen.