A nitrogen generator is a piece of equipment often comparable to the size of a kitchen refrigerator. Keep in mind that nitrogen generators do not generate nitrogen! Rather, these machines filter out the other molecules in the air such as carbon dioxide, argon, dust particles, water, and oxygen, and then dries the nitrogen gas. At the end of this process, a more concentrated and purer form of nitrogen remains. PSA stands for pressure swing adsorption. This process is also referred to as 'swing of pressure' , which means that it allows for certain gases to be captured at higher pressure and released at lower pressure. The two tower PSA system allows for continuous nitrogen production at a desired purity level. Nitrogen generators are used in hypoxic air fire prevention systems to produce air with a low oxygen content which will suppress a fire. Essentially, a nitrogen generator works by separating nitrogen molecules from the oxygen molecules within compressed air. In addition to allowing companies to control how much nitrogen they want to produce with how much pressure and which degree of purity, generating the gas themselves has other benefits.
