An experimental study on the design of a catalytic combustor for 1.6 kW MCFC system has been performed. The roles of the catalytic combustor are to completely burn anode off-gas and to supply sufficient $CO_2$ to cathode channels. In order to avoid hot spot or fuel slippage, flow uniformity at the catalyst inlet was achieved by installing two crossing perforated plates between the catalyst and the mixing chamber with minimal pressure drop. A Pd/Ce/Ni-$Al_2O_3$ catalyst was used for complete combustion of the off-gas at GHSV=36,000.