Solid-electrolyte fuel cell system

A solid-electrolyte fuel cell system comprising:

• a plurality of fuel cells each having;
• an electrolyte layer,
• an oxygen electrode applied to one surface of said electrolyte layer,
• a fuel electrode applied to the other surface of said electrolyte layer,
• passage defining means opposed to said fuel electrode,
• a fuel gas passage defined between said fuel electrode and said passage defining means, one end of said fuel gas passage being a fuel gas inlet and the other end of said fuel gas passage being a fuel gas outlet,
• said fuel cells being stacked to form a cell assembly;
• an oxygen-containing gas passage defined between each adjacently stacked pair of the fuel cells, said oxygen-containing gas passage having an oxygen-containing gas inlet opened in a direction different from said fuel gas inlet as seen in a stacking direction of said cell assembly and having an oxygen-containing gas outlet opened in the same direction as said fuel gas outlet as seen in the stacking direction of said cell assembly;
• inlet defining means provided at each said oxygen-containing gas inlet for restricting said oxygen-containing gas inlet toward said fuel gas inlet as seen in the stacking direction of said cell assembly, so that an oxygen-containing gas supplied through said oxygen-containing gas inlet is guided along a non-straight path toward said oxygen-containing gas outlet;
• oxygen-containing gas supply passage means provided at each said oxygen-containing gas inlet to communicate with the outside of said cell assembly;
• fuel gas supply passage means provided at each said fuel gas inlet to communicate with the outside of said cell assembly;
• and
• a combustion chamber disposed outside said cell assembly and communicating with said oxygen-containing gas outlet and said fuel gas outlet to burn an oxygen-containing gas exhausted from said oxygen-containing gas outlet passage and a fuel gas exhausted from said fuel gas outlet.