A first aspect of a process of recovering xenon from feed gas includes: providing an adsorption vessel containing adsorbent having a Xe/N2 selectivity ratio 50% and an initial xenon concentration ≧0.5%; evacuating the adsorption vessel; and purging the adsorption vessel at a purge-to-feed ratio ≧10. The final xenon concentration is ≧15× the initial xenon concentration. A second aspect of the process includes providing an adsorption vessel containing adsorbent having a Xe Henry's law Constant ≧50 mmole/g/atm; feeding into the adsorption vessel feed gas having an initial nitrogen concentration >50% and an initial xenon concentration ≧0.5%; heating and purging the adsorption vessel to recover xenon having a final concentration ≧15× its initial concentration. Apparatus for performing the process are also described.