Regardingthedevelopmentofenergeticallyefficientunitsforgasseparationandgaspurification,PressureSwingAdsorption(PSA)processesofferaprofitableapproach.Particularlyinsmallscaleapplicationsthecompactdesignoftheadsorberiscrucial.Toachievetherequiredhighproductivity,shortcycletimesmustbeappliedandhencesmalladsorbentparticlesmustbeused,providingsufficientlyfastadsorptionkinetics.ThishasbeencharacterizedbythetermRapidPressureSwingAdsorption(RPSA).However,highpressuredropandlowmechanicalstabilityoftheadsorbentarethelimitingfactorsforparticlesizeandthusprocessoptimization.Theapproachconsideredinthisworkisbasedupontheusageofnovelmonolithicadsorbent-polymermaterials,featuringlowpressuredropandhighmechanicalstability.Themonolithsaremanufacturedbyextrusionofhighlyfilledzeoliticpolymermatricesusingthermoplasticmaterialsasplasticizingaidandbinder.Aftertheformingprocess,theaddedwaxisremovedbythermalafter-treatment,creatingasecondaryporestructureinthepolymermatrixandhencespecifyingitsresultingmasstransportproperties.Thepotentialofthisdevelopmentisevaluatedbycomparingbothadsorptionequilibriaandadsorptionkineticsofthenew-typeadsorbentswithcommercialadsorbentpelletsusedinrandomlypackedbeds.Thethermodynamicequilibriumhasbeenquantifiedinanautomated,isothermalhighvacuumapparatusbasedonastatic-volumetricprinciple.Themass-transferisdeterminedbyacommondynamic-columnbreakthroughmethod.TheadsorptionofwatervaporonaZeolite4A-Polyamidecompoundisconsideredasexamplecase.Inanextstep,propermodelsforadsorptionequilibriaandkineticshavebeendeveloped,fittothemeasureddataandimplementedintoadetailedRPSAprocessmodel.ThismodelhasbeenvalidatedwithanexperimentalsetupofasinglecolumnRPSAunit.SincetheapproachoftheCyclicSteadyState(CSS)bydynamicsimulationisextremelytimeconsuming,variousefficientnumericalmethodshavebeenstudied.Amongthese,theusageofaContinuousCountercurrentModel(CCM)hasbeenfoundtobethemostpromisingapproach.ThescopeoftheCCMhasbeendeterminedbycomparingittoboththedetailedmodelandtheexperimentaldata.InordertoanalyzethebehavioroftheRPSAprocess,extensivesimulationshavebeencarriedout.Incomparisontoaconventionaldesignbasedonadsorbentpelletsitisshownthatthenoveladsorbentmonolithslargelyeliminatethekineticandpressuredroplimitationsfacedincompactdesign,resultinginasubstantialenhancementofproductivity.Finally,recommendationsfortheoptimalprocessdesignprocedurearepresented.ThesuccessofthemanufactureandapplicationofthemonolithicadsorbentsintheairdryingexampleencouragesforanextensionofthestrategytootherPSA-systemslikehydrogenpurificationandoxygenenrichment,whosecompactdesigninmobilefuelcellsystemsistheprinciplechallenge.