Patent ID: 8616003

Claim:
A nozzle assembly for injecting a fuel-air mixture into a combustion chamber; wherein: the nozzle assembly comprises a stack of a nozzle plates in face-to-face contact and joined together in a fluid tight manner; the plates include an upstream-most plate, a downstream-most plate, and a plurality of intermediate plates therebetween; the plates each include a central opening that align together to form a central circuit through which air passes from the upstream-most plate to the downstream-most plate; the upstream-most plate and at least some of the intermediate plates include openings that form corner air circuits through which air passes; at least some of the intermediate plates include openings and/or grooves that form swirl spokes in each corner air circuit into the central circuit to thereby merge the corner air circuit with the central circuit; the upstream-most plate and at least some of the intermediate plates include openings that form a first fuel circuit; at least some of the intermediate plates include openings and/or grooves that form swirl spokes from the fuel circuit into the central circuit to thereby merge the first fuel circuit with the central circuit; and the first fuel circuit merges with the central circuit upstream of where the corner air circuits merge with the central circuit.