Spark Ionisation to determine Combustion Characteristics

[RABBITT_Andrew at mv8.orbeng.com.au]

>If you are happy with information one spark in the past you could
>probably (not havin actually tried it) glean something from the 
>current waveform of the actual spark, should be able to indicate
>spark voltage as well and might give a clue as to the mixture.


There are many papers on this subject guys, and here's just a start 
for you!

SAE #'s, 860485, 910719, 930390, 950003, 960045, 960337.  Ford has 
done research on this as far back as the mid-seventies and also has a 
paper or two about various aspects of the technology.

As far as I know, this is a current (no pun intended!) method for 
misfire detection for OBDII, although I don't know who or if anyone is 
using it.

Andrew Rabbitt
Orbital Engine Company
PERTH, Australia