Apparatus for in-situ reaction heating

A reactor apparatus for the combustion of a fuel to indirectly heat reactants, the apparatus comprising:

• a) a first plurality of spaced apart plates defining a plurality of reaction channels and partially defining a plurality of heating channel groups between pairs of reaction channels;
• b) at least one intermediate plate dividing each heating channel group into a fuel subchannel and a metering subchannel;
• c) a metering device retained by each intermediate plate for metering a combustion gas from the metering subchannel into the fuel subchannel;
• d) a manifold comprising a fuel distribution chamber and a combustion gas distribution chamber, said fuel distribution chamber being separated from said combustion gas distribution chamber, said reaction channels extending from outside said manifold and through said manifold and being separated from said fuel distribution chamber and said combustion gas distribution chamber;
• e) a plurality of reaction inlets and a plurality of reaction outlets each in respective communication with the opposite ends of the plurality of reaction channels;
• f) a plurality of combustion gas inlets in communication with the metering subchannels;
• and
• g) a plurality of fuel inlets and combustion gas outlets each in respective communication with the opposite ends of the fuel subchannels.