Patent ID: 7370466

Claim:
In a gas turbine combustor, a main swirler assembly comprising an inner body and an annulus casting, the inner body comprising a main swirler assembly casing having an upstream front end and a downstream exhaust end defining a length and a plurality of swirler flow conditioning members arranged within a bore defined by the casing, and the annulus casting having a length defined by a distance between an upstream end and a downstream end, the annulus casting length being significantly shorter than the swirler casing length, the downstream end adapted to contact a baseplate, the baseplate comprising high-flashback-occurrence zones adjacent an opening into which fits the downstream end, a downstream section of the casing in substantially concentric cylindrical alignment within the annulus casting to define a flashback annulus, the main swirler assembly casing exhaust end positioned between about 25 percent of the annulus casting length upstream of, and about 5 percent of the annulus casting length downstream of, the annulus casting downstream end, wherein flow through the flashback annulus is effective to reduce, in total area, regions of structural damage located in the high-flashback-occurrence zones.