Capillary seal for a burn chamber

1. A heat-tolerant capillary seal for a burn chamber comprising:

a pass-through received in an outlet of the bum chamber; and

an adhesion material for use in a gap between said pass-through and an interior of the outlet, wherein said adhesion material liquefies from a solid form during operation of the burn chamber.

2. The heat-tolerant capillary seal of claim 1 , wherein said pass-through is made of a non-conductive, ceramic material.

3. The heat-tolerant capillary seal of claim 1 , wherein said pass-through has an hourglass shape.

4. The heat-tolerant capillary seal of claim 1 , wherein said adhesion material is solder.

5. The heat-tolerant capillary seal of claim 4 , further comprising a seed layer on said pass-through and in said outlet to facilitate adhesion of said solder within said gap.

6. The heat-tolerant capillary seal of claim 1 , further comprising a retention cap for said non-conductive pass-through.

7. The heat-tolerant capillary seal of claim 4 , wherein said solder has a lower melting point than an operational temperature of said burn chamber.

8. The heat-tolerant capillary seal of claim 1 , further comprising a conductor extending through said pass-through for transferring power generated in said burn chamber to an exterior load.

9. The heat-tolerant capillary seal of claim 1 , wherein said burn chamber and said pass-through have substantially similar coefficients of thermal expansion, such that during operation of said burn chamber, said outlet and said pass-through do not exert stress on each other.

10. The heat-tolerant capillary seal of claim 4 , wherein said solder assumes a liquid form at a lower temperature than an operational temperature of said burn chamber.

11. The heat-tolerant capillary seal of claim 4 , wherein said solder comprises any metal or alloy thereof that is non-oxidizing.

12. A heat-tolerant capillary seal for an outlet of a bum chamber, said seal comprising:

interface means for passing a conductor between an interior and exterior of said burn chamber through said outlet; and

sealing means for liquidly sealing a gap between said burn chamber and said interface means.

13. The seal of claim 12 , further comprising means for securing said interface means in said outlet.

14. The seal of claim 12 , wherein said interface means are non-conductive.

15. The seal of claim 12 , wherein said sealing means comprise solder.

16. A method of using a heat-tolerant capillary seal to seal an outlet of a burn chamber, said method comprising:

heating said burn chamber to melt an adhesive material disposed in a gap between said outlet of said burn chamber and a pass-through disposed in said outlet, said adhesive material, when melted, forming a capillary seal around said pass-through.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein said heating is performed by operating a fuel cell in said burn chamber.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising transmitting power generated in said burn chamber through said pass-through.

19. The reactor of claim 16 , wherein said pass-through has an hourglass shape.