The goal of this study is to develop a system-level dynamic model of a proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell that is capable of characterizing the mixed effects of temperature, gas flow, and capacitance, with particular emphasis focused on system transient behavior. The fuel cell system is divided into three control volumes and thus a lumped-parameter model for these sub-systems is established using a combination of intrinsic mechanistic relations and empirical modeling. The dynamic model is simulated using SIMULINK. The analysis illustrates the complicated dynamic interactions between various components and effects within a fuel cell system, and demonstrates the necessity of the proposed approach of separate control volumes. Numerical studies are correlated to a single-cell experimental investigation, and a protocol for parameter identification is explored to refine the model fidelity. The proposed fuel cell model can accurately predict the dynamic behavior and exhibits excellent agreement with experimental results. This model can be readily employed in the optimization and real-time control of PEM fuel cells installed in practical automotive or stationary applications. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.