International Journal of Engineering Applied Sciences and Technology, 2020

Vol. 5, Issue 1, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 151-159

Published Online May 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)

DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF PINTLE

INJECTOR FOR LIQUID ROCKET ENGINE
Dr. R Rajendran, Professor
Department of Aeronautical Engineering,
Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Samiksha Prasad, Subhashree S, Toshith S Phutane, Vedanth S Saoor

Students, Department of Aeronautical Engineering,
Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Abstract— A pintle injector is a variable-area injector prevent onset of any type of combustion instability. Pintle
that can control the mass flow rate of the fuel and oxidizer injector was developed in 1950 by the TRW predecessors of the
used, subsequently discarding an enormous injector plate Northrop Grumman for application in the liquid propellant
having a few injector components with a solitary injector rocket engine which served the main purpose in the Apollo
unit. Throttling performance requires the fulfilment of two Missions Lunar Module. This actually began as an experiment
major parameters i.e. the spray angle and SMD. To achieve at JPL to measure the mixing and combustion time of the
a good reasonable result for the above two parameters, hypergolic propellants in the mid of the 1950’s. But the actual
there are two other regulatory parameters which govern patent of the pintle injector came out in the year of 1972. Some
them i.e TMR and Weber Number. Both these parameters of the previous missions in which this sort of injectors was used
are non-dimensional in nature and suggest some main were Apollo LMDE, Delta launch vehicle, NASA Chandra
behavioural criteria. The study will be bound to these etc. The SpaceX company which is well established in the
parameters and on how they alter the performance of pintle space exploration domain used the pintle injector for their
injector. Initially theoretical study on various parameters Merlin and Grasshopper engines and also stated that these will
are performed. To enhance the observation further, be the most favourable kind of injectors that will be used by
theoretical calculations are performed and analysis is done majority agencies for their application in the near future.
to obtain parameters after pressure losses are considered II. CONCEPT FOR PINTLE INJECTOR
due to the geometric constraints with involvement of other
conditions, to get the values almost close to a real valued A. Throttling –
flow. The analysis is also performed to study the Certain missions require variation in the thrust to either
recirculation and the parameters which are directly decelerate or change the attitude of the vehicle. In such a case
involved in generating this phenomenon. the vehicle should be adequately built to safely vary its thrust
according to the requirement of the mission. Throttling has a
Keywords— Throttling, Combustion instability, pintle brutal impact on the performance of the vehicle and hence it
injector, TMR, spray angle, SMD. becomes mandatory to design the mechanism i.e., the
injectors which handle the throttling at utmost care. There are
I. INTRODUCTION two ways to control the thrust : through variation in the mass
Interplanetary missions are a part of all growing space flow rate or variation of the thrust duration . Through variation
organizations around the globe. Space missions are always in the mass flow rates, the pressure drop decreases and hence
filled with a huge amount of challenges. One such challenging the performance is reduced. The liquid pressure drop changes
situation is the dynamic thrust variation of the rocket motors to with the square of mass flow rate while the flow in the
stay on its own trajectory. The throttling effect rises to a very combustion chamber is linear. A small glitch that arises is if the
devastating phenomenon called combustion instability. This injector is made to work for prolonged time at a very low
phenomenon can blow up the entire vehicle in a very short span throttling range, there are chances of instability even with a
of time. Thus, making it to the mandatory issue list which has pintle injector application.
to be dealt with very success in the project and the B. Combustion instability –
mission. Tracing back to the reason for its occurrence we come
across a term called as the pressure drop. This is one the main When there is a regenerative feedback between the combustion
reasons argued to initiate combustion instability. The phenomenon and energy released there is onset of high
suggestion is that the pressure drop has to be high enough to oscillation in the combustion chamber which is further
transmitted through the engine and the high oscillating

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Vol. 5, Issue 1, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 151-159
Published Online May 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)

frequency is absorbed by the complete structure of the rocket. III. PINTLE INJECTOR
The energy release is insufficient at the antinodes for the entire Pintle injector is a variable area injector which is beneficial
range of acoustic modes. Just before this happens the engine during the throttling to maintain adequate pressure loss and
undergoes chugging. Chugging is mainly caused due to the prevent any trigger in the combustion stability of the engine
immediate variations in the mass flow rates of the propellants which might be proven to be fatal. Pintle type injectors are
as a result of the changes in the pressure drop across the termed to be the future of the injectors in the liquid propulsion
injector. The other reason is due to the droplets which are division under aerospace industry. They have relatively easier
retained back from undergoing combustion. They experience design compared to other injector types and are cheaper for
very high relative winds of the combustion gases which triggers manufacturing as well. Optimized injection levels are expected
the flow and high frequency modes are generated internally at all injection levels. This can be achieved by using variable
through the combustion chamber. This is further transmitted to area injectors. The use of fixed area injectors proves to be a
the injector and since the turbomachines are stalled quickly haphazard at lower thrust levels or at lower mass flow of the
during such times, they initiate combustion instability. This is propellants. Moreover, the pintle injector covers a wider range
the reason why recirculation is believed to be one of the of spray angle and hence the complexity of numerous
saviours in the prevention of combustion instability. The other impinging elements spreader through the faceplate is skipped.
reason is due to the highly varying acoustic speeds inside the There is a presence of an inherent recirculation zone due to
chamber. This may be initiated due to the continual change in which we obtain a very high performance. The propellant in
the properties of the propellant. This is the reason why it is fumed state is recirculated till the entire propellant undergoes
necessary to maintain certain critical parameters like O/F , combustion
cp/cv etc. constant even while performing throttling. The
acoustic waves should be damped. This has been satisfied by
the use of certain devices like acoustic cavity, baffles, spooks
etc. This additional arrangement is almost eliminated by the use
of the pintle injectors.

C. Basic definitions –
Sauter mean diameter (SMD): In fluid dynamics, Sauter
mean diameter is an average of particle size. It is defined as the
diameter of a sphere that has the same volume or surface area
ratio as a particle of interest. SMD are highly impacted by the
weber number, pintle angle and Lopen. The weber number has
to be maintained high to procure a very fine spray. The relative
velocities for such SMD’s are meant to be as high as possible
since they play a vital role and are directly proportional to the Fig. 1. Schematic respresntation of pintle injector
SMD’s.
The pintle injector mainly has a pintle rod , a fuel sleeve , an
Spray angle: It is the angle formed by the cone of the liquid oxidiser sleeve and a pintle head. In addition to this other
leaving a nozzle orifice. The spray angle is expected to stay secondary parts include the inlets to the respective chambers
steady all through the whole spray distance. Spray angles are and a face plate for uniform distribution of the fuel as shown in
directly influenced by the TMR’s. As per the observations, a the above figure. A pintle injector is a variable area injector
higher spray angle generates a uniform combustion field where consisting of two concentric tubes ( also known as sleeve in 2D
every antinode is being sufficed with enough energy. Hence the diagram ) and a central pintle rod inside the concentric tubes.
possibility of combustion instability is less. The oxidiser is conventionally allowed to flow inside the outer
Total Momentum Ratios: TMR is the ratio between the concentric tube coming out as a stream while the fuel is made
momentum of the oxidizer to that of the sum of the momentum to flow inside the inner concentric tube in a straight line. Once
of the propellants. For a rocket depending on the mission and the propellants ( fuel and oxidiser ) reach the end point of the
resource requirements, it is classified as an oxy-rich engine or injector they intersect or impinge to form a mixture with a
fuel-rich engine. The simple fact of the ratio between the specific mixture ratio required for a particular mission
momentums gives a brief idea on how the flow regimes are application. Throttling is achieved by either moving the inner
formed further downstream. As mentioned earlier a uniform pintle or the outer sleeve.
and stable spray angles are required and since this parameter is
a major indicator and influencer on the spray angles, makes it
to be valued more during the designing of the injectors.

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Vol. 5, Issue 1, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 151-159
Published Online May 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)

IV. METHODOLOGY m (dot) total (g/s) 480.26 419.09

A. Theoretical framework Surface tension 1.11 1.11
(dynes/cm)
Any research develops its accuracy based on the initial V ox (m/s) 14.05 20.324
theoretical calculations that have been done. The theoretical V fuel (m/s) 24.23 24.84
calculations that has been carried out in our research has certain Delta V (m/s) 10.18 4.52
assumptions and fixing a few values based on the design of the We 36831.51 4356.64
pintle injector. The formulas that has been mentioned below are SMD (microns) 2.95E-06 1.08E-05
obtained from the journal paper Min Son , et al . [2017] and the TMR 0.59 0.77
same has been used to calculate the TMR, SMD, Spray angle Re ox 154531.03 134121.94
for two different angles at two throttling ranges. Re fuel 8384.85 8595.94
Oh 1.24E-03 4.92E-04
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
𝑅𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡− √𝑅𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡 2 −𝐴𝑐𝑔∗
𝜋
Spray angle (deg) 51.02 55.59
𝐿𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 max = sin 𝜃∗𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
(1)
Table -2 Results for 33º angle with 100% (0.5) and 60% (0.3) throttling
𝑚𝑜 ∙= 𝜌 ∗ 𝐴𝑜 ∗ 𝑣. (2)
PARAMETERS 0.5mm 0.3mm
𝜌∗∆𝑣 2 ∗𝐿𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 Lopen max 3.46E-03 3.46E-03
𝑊𝑒 = (3)
𝜇 Lopen (mm) 0.5 0.3
0.1
Rpost (mm) 6 6
𝑆𝑀𝐷 = 𝐿𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 ∗ 𝜀 −1 ∗ 𝑒 4−𝑞∗𝑊𝑒 (4) Rcg (mm) 5.5 5.5
Ao (m2) 1.55E-05 9.37E-06
(𝑚∙𝑉)𝑜∗cos 𝜃
𝑇𝑀𝑅 = (5) m (dot) ox (g/s) 250.72 223.5
(𝑚∙𝑉 )𝑜∗sin 𝜃+(𝑚∙𝑉)𝑓
m (dot) fuel (g/s) 179.08 159.64
1 m (dot) total (g/s) 429.8 383.14
𝛼 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 −1 (1+𝑇𝑀𝑅) (6) Surface tension 1.11 1.11
B. Theoretical results (dynes/cm)
V ox (m/s) 14.17 20.89
CASE – 1 V fuel (m/s) 24.12 24.38
For 20º pintle angle, the throttling conditions are 100% and Delta V (m/s) 9.95 3.49
60%. The variations in all the parameters are shown in the We 35186.02 2597.32
below table. The assumptions made according to the design of SMD (microns) 3.44E-06 1.80E-05
the injector which is mentioned below in the methodology are TMR 0.475 0.6
Rpost = 6mm.; Rcg = 5.5mm Re ox 155850.88 1373857.09
Lopen = 0.5 for 100% throttling and 0.3 for 60% throttling Re fuel 8346.79 8436.76
Density of oxidizer = 1141 kg/m3; Oh 1.20E-03 3.70E-04
Density of fuel = 789 kg/m3 Spray angle (deg) 47.31 51.31
CASE – 2
For 33º pintle angle, the throttling conditions are 100% C. Analysis methodology
and 60%. The variations in all the parameters are shown
The design of the pintle injector has been done on CFD
in the below table. The assumptions made for the second
with commercial ANSYS fluent R 17.0 in the design modular
case are similar to the first one except the pintle angle. with the following dimensions. Mesh independent study was
Table -1 Results for 22º angle with 100% (0.5) and 60% (0.3) throttling done using various meshes on the face split geometry. Before
we moved on to the mesh independent study, we first created
the all quadrilateral mesh. Mesh independent study is said to be
PARAMETERS 0.5mm 0.3mm
achieved when the solution does not vary when the mesh is
Lopen max 2.91E-03 2.91E-03
further refined. Initially we start with coarse mesh and
Lopen (mm) 0.5 0.3
Rpost (mm) 6 6
further refine it. This results in difference in solution as
Rcg (mm) 5.5 5.5 the mesh is improved further. As the mesh becomes finer,
Ao (m2) 1.75E-05 1.05E-05 there exist a limit after which no changes in the solution
m (dot) ox (g/s) 280.15 244.47 is observed in the result even when it is further refined.
m (dot) fuel (g/s) 200.11 174.62 When this saturation point is reached, it is said that we

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Vol. 5, Issue 1, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 151-159
Published Online May 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)

have achieved Mesh independence. This means that immiscible liquids. A single set of momentum equation is used
further refining the mesh would not result in the variation to model two or more immiscible liquids. The volume fraction
in solution and that the mesh has captured the most of each of the fluid is tracked throughout the domain. The
intricate details of the flow. following kind of flows were obtained for all 4 cases.

Table -3 Different mesh sizes for 20º pintle angle

CASE 1 – 20 deg, 0.5 mm

No. of nodes No. of elements Vo Vf

101307 100607 14.23 24.54
1276626 126850 14 24.9
222174 221178 14.5 24.23

Fig. 3. Total pressure distribution

Fig. 2. Face split mesh done at region 1 for 0.5 Lopen

The similar kind of mesh study was obtained for the other 3
cases as well. Once the mesh study was conducted, we moved
on to the analysis part which is described as CFD with
commercial ANSYS Fluent R17.0 software is used for all
simulations carried out in this project. Once the design has been
created in the design modular and meshed, it is imported to the
Fluent section where certain conditions which are pre-installed
has been used to continue with the simulation process. We have
considered multiphase flow model for our work. A multiphase
flow is the one where more than one fluid flow simultaneously.
In multiphase flow, a phase can be characterized as a Fig. 4. Velocity contours
recognizable class of material that has a specific inertial
reaction to and interaction with the flow and the potential field
in which it is submerged.

Multiphase flow can be grouped into the categories:

Two phase flows and Three phases flows. The two-phase flows
can be further divided into gas-liquid, liquid-liquid, gas-solid,
liquid-solid flows. Our flow consists of primary phase and
secondary phase. The primary phase being air and the
secondary phases include Liquid oxygen and Ethyl-alcohol. In
the Euler-Euler approach, the different phases are treated as
interpenetrating continua. Volume-averages mass conservation
equation is used for solving each phase and the concept of
volume fraction is introduced. Three different Euler-Euler
multiphase flow model are available in Ansys Fluent. This Fig. 5. Velocity streamline ( recirculation pattern )
includes the Volume of Fluid model (VOF), Mixture model and
Eulerian Model. VOF model is intended for at least two

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Vol. 5, Issue 1, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 151-159
Published Online May 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)

Fig. 9. Velocity streamline ( Recirculation pattern )

Fig. 6. Velocity vector

CASE 3 – 33 deg, 0.5 mm

Fig. 10. Velocity vector

The analysis of 0.3mm for both the angles yields similar results
as the above tow cases using the same model and same
comditiions .

Fig. 7. Total pressure distribution V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The results are divided into two different
The simulation results mainly comprise of
For 20º
Velocity contours
Velocity streamlines – recirculation
For 33 º
Velocity contours
Velocity streamlines – recirculation
The graphs that show the point of convergence after a certain
time step and the residual graph with respect to the number of
iterations. The graphs give us the relation between the
parameters and how they behave with one another for a given
condition in a pintle injector.

20º velocity contours

Fig. 8. Velocity contour

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Vol. 5, Issue 1, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 151-159
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Fig. 12. (b) velocity streamline for 0.5 and 0.3 mm

33º velocity contours

Fig. 11. (a) velocity vector for 0.5 and 0.3 mm

20º velocity streamline – recirculation

Fig. 13. (a) velocity vector for 0.5 and 0.3 mm

33º velocity streamline – recirculation

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Vol. 5, Issue 1, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 151-159
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convergence graphs which are same for all cases as the graphs
converged for every time step.

Fig. 14. (b) velocity streamline for 0.5 and 0.3 mm

VI. DISCUSSION
The 33-degree pintle angled injectors show a stable flow when
compared to the 20-degree pintle angle. The recirculation when
highlighted, the recirculation zones are much further away from Fig. 15. Lopen (mm) vs Spray angle (deg)
the pintle head and this prevents interaction of the unburnt
droplets with that of the incoming stream . But in this case there
are high chances of the droplets passing out of the nozzle
unburnt .This hampers the combustion efficiency to certain
extent as compared to that of the 20 deg pintle angle . But it is
very safe to infer that the 33 degree pintle angles are very less
prone to combustion instability than the 20 degree pintle angle
injectors. The mass flow rates are less compared to that of the
20 degree pintle angle . 33 degree pintle angle has an upper
hand in the throttling range and maximum thrust generated. The
Lopen,max range limit is high compared to that of the 20
degree. SMD values obtained by the 33 degree pintle angle are
quite high when compared to that of the 20 degree. The problem
with the use of a 20 degree pintle angle is that it has the
recirculation zone approaching very close to that of the pintle
head. The SMD values are lower for 20 degree than the 33
degree pintle angle which is a good sign. But the fact that the Fig. 16. Mass ratio vs Spray angle
unburnt particles are in close proximity of the incoming stream
makes the particles drift out of the flow reaching to the hotspots,
releasing the energy at other antinodes. This surely initiates a
combustion instability. With increase in the Lopen, there is an
increase in the momentum and hence the relative velocity. This
means that there are very less droplets that miss out on
undergoing the process of combustion at higher throttling
levels. This can also suggest that when the motors are throttled,
they have to prevent lower level throttling as much as possible.
The combination of lower pintle angles and lower throttling
ranges are to be prevented, at least considering the case of
combustion instability. The TMR values are also influenced by
the Lopen. A narrow Lopen is successful in generating higher
TMR than the higher Lopen. The Ohnesorge number and the
Weber number is high in the case of 20 degrees. This indicates
a very fine spray. The Ohnesorge number and the Weber
number is high for higher Lopen . Therefore to have a finer
spray the conditions to be followed are lower pintle angle and Fig. 17. Delta V vs SMD
higher Lopen values. The below graphs are the residual and

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Vol. 5, Issue 1, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 151-159
Published Online May 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)

geometrical constraints. One design with two different pintle

angles are designed in order to be tested. With the help of the
literature review, non-dimensional parameters are used to
represent the hot flow design conditions. Liquid oxygen and
ethanol are used as simulants of the real propellants. The spray
angle and Sauter mean diameter (SMD) were chosen as the
significant parameters for this research project. We studied the
variation in TMRs for different spray angles and mass flow
rates. This helps in improving the performance of the engine
during throttling. This abstain from combustion instability due
to proper curved surface combustion zone of the spray due to
the TMR. Hence preventing failure of the mission.

VIII. ACKNOLEDGEMENT
Fig. 18. Velocity vs mass flow rate We would like to thank our guide Dr. R Rajendran, Prof
Sudarshan Kumar (IITB), Prof Srinivasan (RVCE) and Mr.
Omkar (IITB) for their constant support and encouragement. A
sincere gratitude to Prof. Mayur Anvekar who suggested this
particular journal to us. We would also like to thank the authors
of the papers we have referred as that laid the foundation to our
whole project. We would like to thank our family and friends
for their valuable inputs and suggestions in due course of
completing this paper.
IX. REFERENCE

[1] Son Min,∗ Radhakrishnan Kanmaniraja,† Koo Jaye, Oh

Chae Kwon, Heuy Dong Kim , July–August 2017 “Design
Procedure of a Movable Pintle Injector for Liquid Rocket
Engines” JOURNAL OF PROPULSION AND POWER
Vol. 33, No. 4, DOI: 10.2514/1.B36301.
Fig. 19. Spray angle vs SMD [2] Son Min, Yu Kijeong, Koo Jaye, Oh Chae Kwon, Jeong
Soo Kim, (2015) , “Effects of Momentum Ratio and Weber
Number on Spray Half Angles of Liquid Controlled Pintle
Injector”, Journal of Thermal Science Vol.24, No.1 37-43,
2015 DOI: 10.1007/s11630-015-0753-7.
[3] Son Min, Kijeong Yu, Radhakrishnan Kanmaniraja, Shin
Bongchul and Koo Jaye , (2016) “Verification on Spray
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[4] Son Min, Radhakrishnana Kanmaniraja, Yoonb Youngbin,
Jaye Kooc, (2017), “Numerical study on the combustion
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Fig. 20. TMR vs Weber number Son,M.,ActaAstronautica
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VII. CONCLUSION [5] Berksu Erka. “Design of a pintle injector” a thesis.
[6] Dressler Gordon A. and Bauer J. Martin, “TRW Pintle
In this study, the former designs and design methods of a pintle Engine Heritage and Performance Characteristics,” AIAA
injector are thoroughly studied. A compact design for LOX and Paper 2000-3871, 200
Ethanol liquid rocket engine is presented in terms of

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Vol. 5, Issue 1, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 151-159
Published Online May 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)

[7] Gromski Jason M., Majamaki Annik N., Silvio G., and
Chianese Vladimir D. Weinstock, 2010 , “Northrop
Grumman TR202 LOX/LH2 Deep Throttling Engine
Technology Project Status ”, AIAA 2010-6725,
[8] Sakaki Kazuki, Kakudo Hiromitsu, Nakaya Shinji,
Mitsuhiro Tsue, Suzuki Kyohei, Ryuichiro Kanai Takahiro
Inagaw, Tetsuo Hiraiwa , 2016 “Combustion
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Combustor with Planar Pintle Injector”, DOI:
10.2514/1.B36144
[9] A Historical Systems Study of Liquid Rocket Engine
Throttling Capabilities Erin M. Betts*National
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[10] Cheng Peng , Li Qinglian, Shun Xu c, Kang Zhongtao “The
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Acta Astronautica, Volume 138, p. 145-151, September
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[11] Modern engineering for design for liquid propellant rocket
engines by Dieter K. Huzel and David H. Huang.
[12] Study on atomization and combustion characteristics of
LOX/methane pintle injectors Xin-xin FangChi-bing Shen
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July 2017. DOI : 10.1016/j.actaastro.2017.03.02

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