Patent ID: 7316563

Claim:
A combustor comprising: a combustor head having a first surface, a second surface opposing the first surface, a sidewall extending between the first surface and the second surface to fully enclose a combustion chamber therebetween, a fuel inlet and an exhaust outlet formed in the sidewall in communication with the combustion chamber, the first surface and the second surface accessible for external thermal delivery; a counter-flow heat exchanger including a body having a fuel conduit extending from the fuel inlet, and an exhaust conduit extending from the exhaust outlet wherein fuel carried by the fuel conduit and exhaust carried by the exhaust conduit flow in essentially opposite directions to each other, the fuel conduit vertically stacked with respect to and contacting the exhaust conduit in thermal communication along substantially the entire length thereof; and the body of the counter-flow heat exchanger having a plurality of lengths connected in series, at least one pair of the plurality of lengths being generally parallel with a gap therebetween.