Patent ID: 8053139

Claim:
A channel-less solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) assembly, comprising: at least one solid oxide fuel cell device comprising (a) an electrolyte sheet; (b) a plurality of anodes situated on one side of the electrolyte sheet; (c) a plurality of cathodes situated on another side of the electrolyte sheet; said cathodes and anodes being electrically interconnected through said electrolyte sheet; and at least one frame module, said frame module comprising: a primary fuel inlet providing primary fuel flow in a first direction; a primary fuel outlet; and at least one internally manifolded passage with openings for distributed injection of fuel in a direction perpendicular to the first direction into the solid oxide fuel cell device, wherein said SOFC assembly includes no bipolar electrical interconnect plate situated adjacent to said at least one fuel cell device, and only a single fuel chamber is situated adjacent to the solid oxide fuel cell device; and said frame module supports the at least one solid oxide fuel cell device and provides fuel to the channel-less SOFC assembly, and fuel provided by said at least one manifolded passage mixes with fuel flow provided into the primary fuel inlet along the direction of said fuel flow, when both the fuel provided by said at least one manifolded passage and the fuel provided by the primary fuel inlet mix while flowing across at least one electrode of said solid oxide fuel cell device.