Patent ID: 7736774

Claim:
A solid oxide fuel cell system comprising: a preliminary reformer for removing hydrocarbons having two or more carbon atoms from a raw fuel and generating fuel; a solid oxide fuel cell stack for generating electricity from an oxidizing agent and fuel and discharging a fuel off-gas and an oxidizing agent off-gas; an integral heat exchanger and catalytic combustion layer for receiving the discharged fuel off-gas and oxidizing agent off-gas from the solid oxide fuel cell stack and discharging a combustion gas, the integral heat exchanger and catalytic combustion layer comprising a first heat exchanger for pre-heating at least one of the oxidizing agent and the fuel to be fed to the solid oxide fuel cell stack, the catalytic combustion layer and a second heat exchanger for pre-heating at least one of the oxidizing agent and the fuel to be fed to the solid oxide fuel cell stack, and an adiabatic vessel containing the preliminary reformer, the solid oxide fuel cell stack and the integral heat exchanger and catalytic combustion layer.