Patent ID: 7566511

Claim:
A solid polymer cell assembly comprising a cell assembly formed by juxtaposing a plurality of unit cells such that electrode surfaces of said unit cells are aligned in parallel with each other, said unit cell each having an assembly including an anode, a cathode, and a solid polymer electrolyte membrane interposed between said anode and said cathode, wherein said unit cells includes an upstream unit cell provided on an upstream side in a flow direction of a reactant gas including at least one of an oxygen-containing gas and a fuel gas, and a downstream unit cell provided on a downstream side in the flow direction, and wherein said unit cells include an upstream unit cell provided on the upstream side in a flow direction of the oxygen-containing gas, and a downstream unit cell provided on the downstream side in the flow direction of the oxygen-containing gas; wherein a coolant flow passage is provided such that a coolant flows serially from said upstream unit cell provided on the upstream side in the flow direction of the oxygen-containing gas to said downstream unit cell provided on the downstream side in the flow direction of the oxygen-containing gas so that temperature of said downstream unit cell provided on the downstream side in the flow direction of the oxygen-containing gas is kept higher than temperature of said upstream unit cell provided on the upstream side in the flow direction of the oxygen-containing gas; and at least part of a reactant gas flow passage for said reactant gas extends serially from a passage formed on an upper side of the assembly of said upstream unit cell to a passage formed on a lower side of the assembly of said downstream unit cell, wherein said reactant gas flow passage includes a fuel gas flow passage and an oxygen-containing gas flow passage, and the oxygen-containing gas and the fuel gas flows in a counterflow manner in the oxygen-containing gas flow passage and the fuel gas flow passage along both surfaces of the assemblies of said unit cells.