Patent ID: 8669014

Claim:
A fuel-cell system, comprising: a first electrode positioned in a first region of the system, the first region positioned to receive a feedstock material; a second electrode positioned in a second region of the system; an ion-transport medium positioned between the first and second regions; an electrical circuit extending between the first and second electrodes; and a controller including memory and processing circuitry, wherein— the system is operable in a first mode to react a first mass of the feedstock material in the absence of oxygen by a non-electricity-generating reaction to produce a product, the system is operable in a second mode to react a second mass of the same feedstock material by an electricity-generating reaction to produce electricity, and the memory stores non-transitory instructions that, when executed by the controller using the processing circuitry, cause the system to switch between operating in the first mode and operating in the second mode in response to an input corresponding to a change in demand for electricity, a change in demand for the product, or both.