The main operating principle of a PSA nitrogen generator is the Pressure Swing Adsorption principle which it utilizes to produce a steady stream of nitrogen gas from compressed air. Air is passed through a Carbon Molecular Sieve (CMS) which is a column of tightly packed material at pressure made of carbon. The larger oxygen and other molecules are adsorbed by the CMS leaving the smaller nitrogen molecules to pass through the CMS and form high purity nitrogen. The contaminants leftover are vented from the CMS after a pre-set time with the on-line tower automatically switching to regenerative mode.

A membrane nitrogen generator operates by filtering normal compressed air and passing it through a bundle of hollow membrane fibers that are technically advanced. Selective permeation is then used to separate the nitrogen from the feed air where oxygen and water vapor are exhausted safely to the atmosphere while pressurized nitrogen gas is channeled to the distribution system. A combination of multiple membrane bundles gives birth to an infinite number of flow/purity ranges that can satisfy any industrial need for nitrogen gas generation.