{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T02:33:16Z","timestamp":1768444396865,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,21]],"date-time":"2022-06-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1655769600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"the National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["51879056"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["51879056"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"the National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["3072022GIP0302"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3072022GIP0302"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Harbin Engineering University Research Innovation Fund for Doctoral Students","award":["51879056"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["51879056"]}]},{"name":"Harbin Engineering University Research Innovation Fund for Doctoral Students","award":["3072022GIP0302"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3072022GIP0302"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In this study, an innovative sensor was designed to detect the key combustion parameters of the marine natural gas engine. Based on the ion current, any engine structurally modified was avoided and the real-time monitoring for the combustion process was realized. For the general applicability of the proposed sensor, the ion current generated by a high-energy ignition system was acquired in a wide operating range of the engine. It was found that engine load, excess air coefficient (\u03bb) and ignition timing all generated great influence on both the chemical and thermal phases, which indicated that the ion current was highly correlated with the combustion process in the cylinder. Furthermore, the correlations between the 5 ion current-related parameters and the 10 combustion-related parameters were analyzed in detail. The results showed that most correlation coefficients were relatively high. Based on the aforementioned high correlation, the novel sensor used an on-line algorithm at the basis of neural network models. The models took the characteristic values extracted from the ion current as the inputs and the key combustion parameters as the outputs to realize the online combustion sensing. Four neural network models were established according to the existence of the thermal phase peak of the ion current and two different network structures (BP and RBF). Finally, the predicted values of the four models were compared with the experimental values. The results showed that the BP (with thermal) model had the highest prediction accuracy of phase parameters and amplitude parameters of combustion. Meanwhile, RBF (with thermal) model had the highest prediction accuracy of emission parameters. The mean absolute percentage errors (MAPE) were mostly lower than 0.25, which proved a high accuracy of the proposed ion current-based virtual sensor for detecting the key combustion parameters.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s22134660","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,22]],"date-time":"2022-06-22T04:12:01Z","timestamp":1655871121000},"page":"4660","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["A Virtual Combustion Sensor Based on Ion Current for Lean-Burn Natural Gas Engine"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Xiaoyan","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Power and Energy Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China"},{"name":"Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang 261061, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tanqing","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Power and Energy Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Quan","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Power and Energy Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhaolin","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Power and Energy Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiyu","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Power and Energy Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Ajay, S.V., Sandeep, C., Ashish, K., Anurag, G., and Ranjeet, K. (2022). A review on performance, combustion and emissions utilizing alternative fuels. Mater. Today Proc."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"111291","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rser.2021.111291","article-title":"Advances in combustion control for natural gas\u2013diesel dual fuel compression ignition engines in automotive applications: A review","volume":"148","author":"Carrie","year":"2021","journal-title":"Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"121522","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fuel.2021.121522","article-title":"Optimization of a diesel\/natural gas dual fuel engine under different diesel substitution ratios","volume":"305","author":"Liu","year":"2021","journal-title":"Fuel"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"122211","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fuel.2021.122211","article-title":"Simultaneous PIV\/LIF-PIV measurements and numerical simulation of liquid flow and ambient gas flow for transient diesel spray","volume":"309","author":"Zhu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Fuel"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"346","DOI":"10.1016\/j.applthermaleng.2016.08.149","article-title":"Estimation of turbulence characteristics from PIV in a high-pressure fan-stirred constant volume combustion chamber","volume":"110","author":"Xu","year":"2017","journal-title":"Appl. Therm. Eng."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1130","DOI":"10.1016\/j.energy.2016.09.030","article-title":"A novel combustion evaluation method based on in-cylinder pressure traces for diesel\/natural gas dual fuel engines","volume":"115","author":"Wang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Energy"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15477","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhydene.2013.09.071","article-title":"Study of the cycle-to-cycle variations of an internal combustion engine fueled with natural gas\/hydrogen blends from the diagnosis of combustion pressure","volume":"38","author":"Reyes","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. J. Hydrogen Energy"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"118722","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fuel.2020.118722","article-title":"Deep-learning based in-cylinder pressure modeling and resolution of ion current signals","volume":"282","author":"Gao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Fuel"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5685","DOI":"10.1016\/j.proci.2020.09.003","article-title":"Cycle resolved control for HCCI engine load range expansion by combining ion current and pressure sensor","volume":"38","author":"Zhu","year":"2021","journal-title":"Proc. Combust. Inst."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fuel.2014.10.052","article-title":"Investigation on characteristics of ion current in a methanol direct-injection spark-ignition engine","volume":"141","author":"Gao","year":"2015","journal-title":"Fuel"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1014","DOI":"10.1016\/j.joei.2018.07.005","article-title":"Relationship of the combustion characteristics of natural gas-hydrogen\/carbon dioxide mixtures with the ion current and pressure parameters","volume":"92","author":"Song","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Energy Inst."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wang, J., Hu, Z., Zhu, D., Ding, W., Li, L., Yan, W., Jian, T., and Chen, L. (2020). In Cycle Pre-Ignition Diagnosis and Super-Knock Suppression by Employing Ion Current in a GDI Boosted Engine, SAE. Technical Paper No. 2020-01-1148.","DOI":"10.4271\/2020-01-1148"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"25257","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhydene.2019.03.082","article-title":"Evaluation mass fraction burned obtained from the ion current signal fueled with hydrogen\/carbon dioxide and natural gas","volume":"44","author":"Song","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. J. Hydrogen Energy"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4018068","DOI":"10.1061\/(ASCE)EY.1943-7897.0000582","article-title":"Predicting the heat release rate of ion current combustion process fueled with hydrogen\/carbon dioxide and natural gas","volume":"145","author":"Song","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Energy Eng."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1115\/1.3023119","article-title":"A Parametric Model for Ionization Current in a Four Stroke SI Engine","volume":"131","author":"Andersson","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Dyn. Syst. Meas. Control"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"267","DOI":"10.4271\/2013-01-0354","article-title":"Ion-Sense-Based Real-Time Combustion Sensing for Closed Loop Engine Control","volume":"6","author":"Malaczynski","year":"2013","journal-title":"SAE Int. J. Engines"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"42","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fuel.2015.10.082","article-title":"Ion current signal and characteristics of ethanol\/gasoline dual fuel HCC combustionI","volume":"166","author":"Liu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Fuel"},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"Gupta, A. (2008). Measurement and Analysis of Ionization Current Signal in a Single Cylinder Diesel Engine, Wayne State University."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3669","DOI":"10.1016\/j.proci.2016.06.118","article-title":"A skeletal gasoline flame ionization mechanism for combustion timing prediction on HCCI engines","volume":"36","author":"Dong","year":"2017","journal-title":"Proc. Combust. Inst."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"122528","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fuel.2021.122528","article-title":"Misfire and knock detection based on the ion current inside a passive pre-chamber of gasoline engine","volume":"311","author":"Wang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Fuel"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"111506","DOI":"10.1115\/1.4040288","article-title":"Experimental Study of Ion Current Signals and Characteristics in an Internal Combustion Rankine Cycle Engine Based on Water Injection","volume":"140","author":"Kang","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Giglio, V., Police, G., Rispoli, N., di Gaeta, A., Cecere, M., and Della, R.L. (2009). Experimental Investigation on the Use of Ion Current on SI Engines for Knock Detection, SAE. Technical Paper No. 2009-01-2745.","DOI":"10.4271\/2009-01-2745"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yoshimura, K., Tokunaga, Y., Hashimoto, D., and Sakurai, H. (2007). Knock and Misfire Detection Using ion Current Measurement for Ultra-Lean Burn Medium Speed Gas Engine, SAE. Technical Paper No. 2007-01-2078.","DOI":"10.4271\/2007-01-2078"},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"188.e93","article-title":"Analysis of ion current integral characteristics for estimation of combustion process parameters in internal combustion engines","volume":"6","author":"Budko","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Mech. Eng. Robot. Res."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"264","DOI":"10.1016\/j.applthermaleng.2016.11.161","article-title":"Real-time start of combustion detection based on cylinder pressure signals for compression ignition engines","volume":"114","author":"Fang","year":"2017","journal-title":"Appl. Therm. Energy"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"196","DOI":"10.19206\/CE-2017-433","article-title":"Use of the gas ionization signal for combustion process diagnostics in the cylinder of a spark ignition engine","volume":"171","author":"Fiedkiewicz","year":"2017","journal-title":"Combust Engines"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"559","DOI":"10.1016\/j.measurement.2018.08.024","article-title":"Cylinder charge composition observation based on in-cylinder pressure measurement","volume":"131","author":"Carlos","year":"2019","journal-title":"Measurement"},{"key":"ref_28","first-page":"370","article-title":"The prediction of torque in a diesel engine using ion currents and artificial neural networks","volume":"15","author":"Rao","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Eng. Res."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"051003","DOI":"10.1115\/1.3155009","article-title":"A neural network implementation of peak pressure position control by ionization current feedback","volume":"131","author":"Rivara","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Dyn. Syst."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liu, Y., Li, L., Lu, H., Deng, J., and Hu, Z. (2016). In-Cycle Knocking Detection and Feedback Control Based on In-Cylinder Pressure and Ion Current Signal in a GDI Engine, SAE. Technical Report No. 2016-01-0816.","DOI":"10.4271\/2016-01-0816"}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/22\/13\/4660\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T23:36:16Z","timestamp":1760139376000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/22\/13\/4660"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,21]]},"references-count":30,"journal-issue":{"issue":"13","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7]]}},"alternative-id":["s22134660"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s22134660","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,21]]}}}