Solid oxide fuel cell having monolithic cross flow core and manifolding

Claim 1

A fuel cell for electrochemically combining fuel and oxidant for generation of galvanic output, comprising the combination of a core having an array of electrolyte and interconnect walls, each electrolyte wall consisting of thin layers of cathode and anode materials respectively, sandwiching a thin layer of electrolyte material therebetween, each interconnect wall consisting of thin layers of the cathode and anode materials, respectively sandwiching a thin layer of interconnect material therebetween, said electrolyte walls and said interconnect walls being spaced apart and alternately arranged with the like cathode and anode layers on each being disposed adjacent to one another, spaced webs of such cathode and anode materials extended transverse to and between the layers of the corresponding material of each adjacent pair of electrolyte and interconnect walls operable to define a plurality of core passageways therebetween where the inside faces of the passageways are formed either of only the anode material or of only the cathode material, each core passageway having the anode material on the inside faces thereof being for the fuel and each core passageway having the cathode material on the inside faces thereof being for the oxidant, means to direct the fuel and the oxidant for flow through the respective anode and cathode passageway, and means to direct the galvanic output from the anode and cathode materials to an exterior circuit.