Gaseous fuel engine and operating strategy for limiting preignition in prechamber sparkplug

An ignition system for a gaseous fuel engine comprising:

• a prechamber sparkplug;
• a cooling air conduit fluidly connected to the prechamber sparkplug;
• a cooling air valve within the cooling air conduit;
• and
• a preignition controller in control communication with the cooling air valve and structured to:
• determine a preignition condition of the gaseous fuel engine system;
• command an adjustment to a position of the cooling air valve based on the determined preignition condition to vary a flow of cooling air through the cooling air conduit to the prechamber sparkplug;
• and
• limit preignition of a gaseous fuel and air in the prechamber sparkplug based on the varying of the flow of cooling air.

A preignition control system for a gaseous fuel engine system comprising:

• a preignition controller structured to:
• monitor a plurality of engine operating parameters on the basis of each of which a preignition condition of the gaseous fuel engine system is dependent;
• determine a preignition condition of the gaseous fuel engine system based upon the monitored plurality of engine operating parameters;
• and
• command an adjustment to a position of a cooling air valve based on the determined preignition condition, such that a flow of cooling air through a cooling air conduit to a prechamber sparkplug is varied to modulate a temperature of the prechamber sparkplug.