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The term spark-ignition engine normally refers to internal combustion engines, specifically petrol engines, where the initiation of the combustion process of the air-fuel mixture is ignited within the combustion chamber by a spark from a spark plug. The term contrasts with diesel-fueled compression-ignition engines, where the heat generated from compression is enough to initiate the combustion process.
Terminology
Spark-ignition engines may be either two-stroke or four-stroke, and are commonly referred to as "gasoline engines" in America, and "petrol engines" in Britain and the rest of the world. However, these terms are not preferred, since spark-ignition engines can (and increasingly are) run on fuels other than petrol/gasoline, such as autogas (LPG), methanol, ethanol, bioethanol, compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen, and (in drag racing) nitromethane. A four-stroke spark-ignition engine is an Otto cycle engine.
See also
- Compression-ignition engine
References
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