A theoretical model for a humidifier of PEM fuel cell systems was developed and analyzed based on the theory of heat transfer and mass transfer, which is intended to be used for the investigation of the performance of a humidification system. A general calculation methodology was developed to implement this model. Knowing a set of gas feeding conditions (i.e., pressure, temperature, flow rate) and physical conditions of a humidifier (i.e., channel geometry, heat transfer coefficients, etc.), the model could provide information regarding the relative humidity and temperatures of outlet gases, as well as the temperature of outlet water. Using the parameters of 1 kW PEM fuel cell system, the proposed model was implemented in Simulink environment. The simulation results showed good agreement with the performance of the test bench.
