exist with V-4 engines Small portable appliances such as chainsaws, generators, and domestic lawn mowers most commonly have one cylinder, but two-cylinder chainsaws exist. Large reversible two-cycle marine diesels have a minimum of three to over ten cylinders. Freight diesel locomotives usually have around 12 to 20 cylinders due to space limitations, as larger cylinders take more space (volume) per kwh, due to the limit on average piston speed of less than 30 ft/sec on engines lasting more than 40,000 hours under full power. Ignition system The ignition system of an internal combustion engines depends on the type of engine and the fuel used. Petrol engines are typically ignited by a precisely timed spark, and diesel engines by compression heating. Historically, outside flame and hot-tube systems were used, see hot bulb engine. Spark In a spark ignition engine, a mixture is ignited by an electric spark from a spark plug — the timing of which is very precisely controlled. Almost all gasoline engines are of this type. Diesel engines timing is precisely controlled by the pressure pump and injector. The normal plug distance between the spark plug is 1mm apart, and the voltage is 3000v at normal atmospheric conditions. Compression Ignition occurs as the temperature of the fuel/air mixture is taken over its autoignition temperature, due to heat generated by the compression of the air during the compression stroke. The vast majority of compression ignition engines are diesels in which the fuel is mixed with the air after the air has reached ignition temperature. In this case, the timing comes from the fuel injection system. Very small model engines for which simplicity and light weight is more important than fuel costs use easily ignited fuels (a mixture of kerosene, ether, and lubricant) and adjustable compression to control ignition timing for starting and running. Ignition timing For reciprocating engines, the point in the cycle at which the fuel-oxidizer mixture is ignited has a direct effect on the efficiency and output of the ICE. The thermodynamics of the idealized Carnot heat engine tells us that an ICE is most efficient if most of the burning takes place at a high temperature, resulting from compression — near top dead center. The speed of the flame front is directly affected by the compression ratio, fuel mixture temperature, and octane rating or cetane number of the fuel. Leaner mixtures and lower mixture pressures burn more