Patent ID: 8822094

Claim:
A fuel cell system, comprising: a fuel cell stack; a heavy hydrocarbon fuel source; a fractionator configured to separate light ends from heavy ends of a heavy hydrocarbon fuel provided from the heavy hydrocarbon fuel source; a fuel reformer, wherein the fuel reformer is thermally integrated with the fuel cell stack by thermal conduction through a thermally conductive material such that heat resulting from a reaction in the fuel cell stack drives a net endothermic reaction in the fuel reformer, wherein the thermal conduction excludes heat provided from a cathode exhaust conduit of the fuel cell stack to the fuel reformer; a burner or catalytic reactor; a conduit feeding the light ends from the fractionator to the fuel reformer; a conduit feeding a reformed fuel from the fuel reformer to the fuel cell stack; a conduit feeding a first portion of an anode exhaust stream from the fuel cell stack to the burner or catalytic reactor; a conduit recycling a second portion of the anode exhaust stream into a fuel inlet stream without purification of the anode exhaust stream; and a conduit feeding the heavy ends from the fractionator to the burner or catalytic reactor.