Hot surface igniter assemblies used in cooktops are shown and described. The hot surface igniters include a silicon nitride ceramic body with an embedded, resistive, heat-generating circuit. The igniters are less than 0.04 inches thick, and when energized, they reach surface temperatures in excess of 2000° F. in under 4 seconds to ignite combustible gas such as propane, butane, or natural gas. Examples of cook top burner systems are also provided which allow the igniter to remain on after ignition at a power level that is lower than during ignition but high enough to ignite the cooking gas should a flame out occur. Examples are also provided of burners that ignite on a low flow setting (e.g., simmer) as opposed the high flow settings that are common in cook top industry.

Hot surface igniter assemblies used in cooktops are shown and described. The hot surface igniters include a silicon nitride ceramic body with an embedded, resistive, heat-generating circuit. The igniters are less than 0.04 inches thick, and when energized, they reach surface temperatures in excess of 2000° F. in under 4 seconds to ignite cooking gas such as propane, butane, or natural gas. Examples of cook top burner systems are also provided which allow the igniter to remain on after ignition at a power level that is lower than during ignition but high enough to ignite the cooking gas should a flame out occur. Examples are also provided of burners that ignite on a low flow setting (e.g., simmer) as opposed the high flow settings that are common in cook top industry.

Hot surface igniter assemblies used in cooktops are shown and described. The hot surface igniters include a silicon nitride ceramic body with an embedded, resistive, heat-generating circuit. When energized, the circuit generates temperatures in excess of 2000° F. in under 4 seconds to ignite cooking gas such as natural gas. To prevent damage to the igniter during use or cleaning, an insulator assembly is provided which protects the distal end of the igniter ceramic body from damage while still exposing it to the cooking gas flow from the burner. In addition, a number of different terminal connection schemes for connecting the igniters to a power source are shown and described.

A cooking gas safety apparatus is shown and described. The apparatus includes a cooking gas safety valve assembly that supplies cooking gas to one or more burners. The cooking gas safety assembly includes at least one coil that is energizable to hold the valve assembly in an open position when subjected to a current that exceeds a threshold value and a hold open circuit. The hold open circuit comprises the coil and a hot surface igniter that is in electrical communication with the coil. The valve assembly is actuated by manually opening the valve and energizing the igniter such that it receives a threshold current that corresponds to an autoignition temperature of the gas. At the threshold current, an electromagnet in the cooking gas safety valve assembly holds the valve open so that it remains open without user intervention. In the event of an igniter failure, the current flow to the coil ceases, causing the valve to shut and cease gas flow to the burner. In certain examples, hold open circuit allows the igniter to operate off of alternating current while the coil receives a time-varying, direct current.

There is provided an igniter for a gas turbine engine including: a base, a glow plug heater rod extending from the base along an axis and terminating in a rod end, the heater rod having a heating section extending axially between axially opposite ends of a heater contained within the heater rod, a heat spreader being in thermal conduction contact with the heating section of the heater rod and extending radially therefrom.

A method is provided for operating a fuel-operated vehicle heater (10) during a start phase of combustion operation. The heater includes a combustion air feed device (26) feeding air and a fuel feed device (22) feeding fuel (B) to a burner area (12) with a combustion chamber (16). An electrically energizable ignition element (32) ignites a fuel/air mixture formed. The method includes energizing the ignition element (32) in a preheating phase prior to the fuel feed, at a time of entry into an ignition phase, detecting electrical resistance of the ignition element (32) and determining a desired resistance based on the electrical resistance of the ignition element (32) detected and operating the ignition element (32) in a resistance-regulating operating mode during the ignition phase such that an actual resistance of the ignition element (32) is in the range of the determined desired resistance of the ignition element (32).

Hot surface igniter assemblies used in cooktops are shown and described. The hot surface igniters include a silicon nitride ceramic body with an embedded, resistive, heat-generating circuit. When energized, the circuit generates temperatures in excess of 2000° F. in under 4 seconds to ignite cooking gas such as natural gas. To prevent damage to the igniter during use or cleaning, an insulator assembly is provided which protects the distal end of the igniter ceramic body from damage while still exposing it to the cooking gas flow from the burner. In addition, a number of different terminal connection schemes for connecting the igniters to a power source are shown and described.

A thermally-actuatable gas valve assembly comprising a ceramic heater is shown and described. The gas valve assembly comprises a housing with a gas inlet and a gas outlet. A bimetal thermal actuator has a valve plug that removably seals the gas outlet from the interior of the housing. The ceramic heater is energizable to cause the thermal actuator to deflect which unseats the valve plug from the gas outlet, thereby placing the gas outlet in fluid communication with the gas inlet and the interior of the housing. A gas heating system is also shown and described in which the gas valve assembly selectively supplies cooking gas to a silicon nitride ceramic igniter. The igniter and the heater are in series such that when a source of alternating current is applied across the igniter and the heater, the igniter reaches the autoignition temperature of the combustion gas before the valve assembly opens

Technologies are provided for a method and an adaptor for introducing electricity into a combustion chamber, for the purpose of electrical flame or combustion control. The adaptor may be placed between a conventional burner assembly and a conventional combustion chamber wall. The adaptor includes an aperture for admitting electricity into the combustion chamber.

There is disclosed an igniter for a gas turbine engine including: a base; a glow plug heater rod extending from the base along an axis and terminating in a rod end; and a sleeve extending at least partially axially along the heater rod, the sleeve having an inner surface facing and spaced apart from the rod, the inner surface defining a pocket adjacent to the heater rod and having a radial depth relative to the axis.