Patent ID: 8043764

Claim:
A stack structure of a solid oxide fuel cell apparatus comprising: a plurality of solid oxide fuel cells each in the form of a plate, having a pair of upper and lower main surfaces, and a side surface, and comprising a fuel-side electrode having an inner flow channel for fuel gas formed therein and being in contact with the fuel gas, a solid electrolyte, and an oxygen-side electrode being in contact with oxygen-containing gas and a retainer member adapted to retain the plurality of cells in such a manner that two adjacent ones of the cells are vertically spaced apart from each other, and having a fuel supply channel for externally supplying the fuel gas to the inner flow channels of the cells, spaces each formed between two adjacent ones of the cells serving as flow channels for the oxygen-containing gas, wherein the side surface of each of the cells has an inflow port into which the fuel gas flows from the fuel supply channel, and an outflow port from which the fuel gas flows out; the retainer member comprises a plurality of retainer pieces for retaining the respective cells; each of the retainer pieces comprises a body portion having a through-hole extending vertically therethrough and a pair of protrusions protruding horizontally from the body portion and facing each other while being spaced vertically apart from each other, and has a communication hole formed therein for establishing communication between the through-hole and a space formed between the paired protrusions; and a portion of an outer peripheral portion of each of the cells which corresponds to the inflow port is held between the paired protrusions of the retainer piece via a seal material, thereby isolating the inflow port from the outside of the stack structure and establishing communication between the inflow port and the communication hole, the plurality of retainer pieces are vertically stacked, thereby vertically establishing communication among a plurality of the through-holes and thus forming the fuel supply channel extending vertically, and the fuel supply channel is located externally of the cells as viewed from a vertical direction.