Patent ID: 8268502

Claim:
A method of operating a fuel cell stack comprising a plurality of fuel cells and a plurality of interconnects, wherein each of the plurality of the interconnects comprises: a fuel distribution plenum; a single fuel inlet opening, the fuel inlet opening substantially centered in the fuel distribution plenum; a first set of fuel flow channels in a first portion of the interconnect; a second set of the fuel flow channels in a middle portion of the interconnect, wherein the middle portion of the interconnect is aligned with the single fuel inlet opening and wherein the channels of the first set are located in peripheral portions of the interconnect on the two sides of the second set of channels; wherein: the first and second sets of fuel flow channels are connected to the fuel distribution plenum; and the fuel flow channels of the first set have a different length and a larger cross sectional area than the fuel flow channels of the second set; and wherein the method comprises providing fuel through the single fuel inlet opening in each of the plurality of the interconnects such that the fuel flows from the single fuel inlet opening through the fuel distribution plenum, and from the fuel distribution plenum through the first and second sets of fuel flow channels at a substantially equal fuel flow rate to the plurality of the fuel cells.