The pintle injector is one of the most promising candidate for propellant injection systems of liquid rocket engine combustors due to the throttling capability and simple structure. However, combustion characteristics of pintle injectors are still unclear. Therefore, combustion experiments are conducted for an ethanol/liquid oxygen rocket engine combustor with a planar pintle injector which simulates the injection configuration of a pintle injector and enables optical measurements at Pc=0.40MPa and O/F=1.08-1.56. Direct images of the flame structure and CH chemiluminesence are observed through an optical window using high speed imaging techniques. Backlit images of the spray structure are observed. Strong CH chemiluminescence is observed in the vicinity of the impinging point of the two propellants. Luminous flames are observed in the vicinity of the faceplate and the upper wall of the combustor. It is observed that atomization process of the planar pintle injector proceeds two-dimensionally unlike conventional impinging injectors. A periodic atomization behavior is observed with the frequency of approximately 700Hz, being equal to the frequency of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.
