US Patent 11175045 Fuel nozzle for gas turbine engine combustor

A method and structure for operating a combustion system of a gas turbine engine to mitigate low frequency combustion acoustics is generally provided. The method includes flowing an oxidizer through a fuel nozzle passage defining an inner wall and an outer wall, in which each of the inner wall and the outer wall are contoured from a first radius to a second radius smaller than the first radius; flowing the oxidizer at a higher axial velocity at the inner wall relative to the outer wall upstream of a fuel injection port; flowing a fuel through the fuel injection port to the fuel nozzle passage to mix with the flow of oxidizer to produce a fuel-oxidizer mixture; and igniting the fuel-oxidizer mixture downstream of the fuel injection port.