An innovative analysis strategy and an optimization procedure have been developed with the purpose of design, evaluation and optimization of small- and large-scale units of cyclic adsorption processes using the classical Skarstrom's cycle: pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and vacuum swing adsorption (VSA).The system of partial differential equations of the dynamic simulator model was solved using a recent numerical technique developed within our group, based on an adaptive multiresolution approach, thus ensuring stability and accuracy. The simulator provides models for the multiple phenomena involved in fixed-bed adsorption: pressure drop, mass transfer resistance and energy balance.An extended parametric analysis is presented for the particular case of oxygen production from air by PSA and VSA:influence of the normalized purge flow rate, the high and low pressure values, dimensionless pressurization time, dimensionless production time, pressure drop and temperature in the bed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.