This paper briefly examines the scale and consequences of inhomogeneity in the fuel/air system within the cylinder of a petrol IC engine. This work serves as the basis around which to introduce a percolation network approach as the natural description for combustion inhomogeneity. The underlying structural elements of the percolation model link in a very direct way with the various physical quantities concerned. This allows the general aspects of the theory to offer new concepts in combustion which appear attractively obvious once they have been stated. The most important point to emerge is that the percolation approach generates very clear design guidelines, particularly for operation under lean conditions.
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