Patent ID: 7174717

Claim:
A fuel distributor for a fuel nozzle in a gas turbine engine, the fuel distributor comprising: a pair of concentric tubular bodies having a common central longitudinal axis each having an inlet end and a outlet end, the pair of concentric tubular bodies including an inner body and an outer body having respectively an outer body inner surface and an inner body outer surface adapted to be in sealing contact one with the other; at least two helical fuel channels adapted to deliver fuel and defined in at least one of the inner and outer surfaces, each helical fuel channel defining several turns around the common central longitudinal axis, each helical fuel channel being in fluid communication with a fuel inlet located at the inlet end; and a channel exit port for each helical fuel channel, the channel exit ports being located at the outlet end, and being tangential to said at least one of the inner and outer surfaces of the tubular bodies, the helical fuel channels and the channel exit ports both contributing to producing a swirl in the fuel exiting the fuel distributor.