Flame ionization detection for pan detection and power management in a gas cooktop

A gas cooktop appliance comprising:

• a burner;
• a gas supply circuit in fluid communication with the burner;
• a valve for controlling an amount of gas supplied to the burner from the gas supply circuit;
• an electrode configured to provide an ignition spark and to obtain an ionization current;
• a translation module configured to translate the ionization current to an analog voltage;
• and
• a control system is operably coupled with the valve and the translation module, the control system is configured to:
• compare the analog voltage to a setting of the valve;
• detect if a difference between the analog voltage and the setting of the valve is outside a predetermined threshold;
• and
• modify the amount of gas supplied to the burner until the difference is within the predetermined threshold.

A gas cooktop appliance comprising:

• a burner;
• a gas supply circuit in fluid communication with the burner;
• a valve for controlling an amount of gas supplied to the burner from the gas supply circuit;
• an electrode configured to provide an ignition spark and to obtain an ionization current;
• and
• a control system is operably coupled with the valve and the electrode, the control system is configured to:
• to monitor the ionization current and compare the ionization current to a predictive model stored in a memory of the control system to determine a presence of a cooking vessel on the burner;
• and
• upon determining an absence of the cooking vessel for a first predetermined amount of time, generate a signal to reduce the setting of the valve.