A liquid Stannum (Sn) anode fuel cell is fabricated by using smooth single crystal Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte and porous Pt cathode. The cell performance in the battery mode is tested to identify the intrinsic reaction kinetics of the Sn electrochemical oxidation reaction. The cell performance characteristics in the gas fuel mode and carbon fuel mode are experimentally measured to identify limiting steps in different operating modes. The results show that in the battery mode, the SnO2 film formation blocks the transportation path of the liquid Sn and oxygen ions to the reactive interface. In the gas fuel modes, the cell performance operating in the H2 fuel mode is much higher than that in the CO fuel mode which is ascribing to the effective reaction of the formed SnO2 at the reactive interface between electrolyte and anode. In the carbon fuel mode, the carbon black fuel can directly or indirectly reduce part of the SnO2 at the interface between anode and electrolyte. It apparently indicates that the performance improvements of liquid Sn anode direct carbon fuel cell rely on minimizing the effects of formed SnO2 layer and accelerating species transportation processes within the liquid Sn electrode.