Patent ID: 7615298

Claim:
A fuel cell system including a fuel cell stack producing an anode exhaust stream and a cathode exhaust stream, said system comprising: (a) a fuel supply assembly for supplying reformate fuel to the stack comprising: i. a fuel supply, ii. a water heat exchanger for generating steam, iii. a primary reformer, and iv. a radiative fuel heat exchanger; (b) an air supply assembly for supplying air to the stack comprising: i. a low temperature air heat exchanger, ii. a high temperature air heat exchanger, and iii. a radiative air heat exchanger; (c) an afterburner which receives the anode and cathode exhaust streams from the fuel cell stack and combusts the exhaust streams to produce a combustion stream; (d) wherein the combustion stream provides heat energy to the primary reformer, the high temperature air heat exchanger, the water heat exchanger and the low temperature air heat exchanger; and (e) wherein the radiative air heat exchanger and radiative fuel heat exchanger each receive radiative heat energy from the stack.