The analogy between heat uptake in a thermal regenerator and selective uptake of gas components in an adsorbent bed has inspired development of alternative architectures for adsorptive gas separation processes. An experimental laboratory sorption enhanced reaction approach for low pressure Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis successfully used a Stirling engine mechanism to generate coordinated pressure swings and flow reversals of a thermally coupled PSA cycle. Attempts to apply similar mechanisms to air separation and hydrogen purification (rapid cycle PSA applications) motivated the development of very high surface area laminated parallel passage adsorbers for process intensification. Further efforts to develop compact PSA equipment for hydrogen purification and biogas upgrading led to practicable multiport rotary valves, enabling great simplification of PSA systems using multiple adsorbers. Higher degrees of simplicity and compactness for PSA and TSA processes were subsequently achieved using the laminated structured adsorbent in rotary adsorbers, now being used for post-combustion CO₂ capture. Prospective applications in the energy conversion field include hydrogen recovery from SOFC anode tail gas, debottlenecking of MCFC carbon capture from flue gas, and recovery of tritium from fusion power plant breeder blanket helium purge gas. A major opportunity is identified for sorption-enhanced ammonia synthesis in the context of green hydrogen technologies.

热再生器中的热量吸收与吸附剂床中气体成分的选择性吸收之间的类比启发了吸附性气体分离工艺的替代体系结构的发展。用于低压Haber-Bosch氨合成的实验性实验室吸附增强反应方法成功地使用了斯特林发动机机制来产生热耦合PSA循环的协调压力波动和逆流。试图将相似的机制应用于空气分离和氢气净化（快速循环PSA应用）的动机促使人们开发了表面积很大的层压平行通道吸附器，以进行工艺强化。为开发用于氢气净化和沼气升级的紧凑型PSA设备的进一步努力导致了可行的多端口旋转阀，使用多个吸附器可以大大简化PSA系统。随后，使用旋转吸附器中的层压结构吸附剂，实现了PSA和TSA工艺的更高程度的简单性和紧凑性，现已用于燃烧后的CO_2次捕获。在能源转换领域的潜在应用包括从SOFC阳极尾气中回收氢气，从烟道气中捕获MCFC碳的瓶颈，以及从聚变电站增殖器毯状氦吹扫气中回收recovery。在绿色氢技术的背景下，发现了吸附增强氨合成的主要机会。