Patent ID: 6844100

Claim:
A fuel cell module comprising: a vessel having an inlet and an outlet, said inlet and outlet being configured to receive and exhaust an oxidant, respectively; at least three fuel cell stacks arranged in a ring within said vessel, said fuel cell stacks separating an inner and an outer volume of said vessel, said inner and outer volumes being in fluid communication through said fuel cell stacks, at least one of said fuel cell stacks having a fuel inlet and at least one of said fuel cell stacks having a fuel outlet for receiving and exhausting a fuel flow, respectively, wherein each fuel cell stack comprises at least two fuel manifolds for receiving and exhausting the fuel flow and further comprises at least one planar high-temperature fuel cell unit comprising an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte disposed between said anode and cathode, each fuel cell stack further comprising a plurality of compressive seals for segregating said cathode and the fuel flow through said fuel manifolds and for segregating said anode and the oxidant; a plurality of electrical connections between said fuel cell stacks for electrically connecting each fuel cell stack to at least one other of said fuel cell stacks; and a plurality of corner stack seals, each of said corner stack seals being disposed along at least one of (a) an edge joining two of said fuel cell stacks and (b) a face joining two of said fuel cell stacks, wherein each of the corner stack seals comprises a leaky seal.