conventional magnetic resonance imaging (mri) modality is based on the magnetization that is formed by the influence of a strong polarizing magnetic field on the spin of protons, typically those of water molecules within the body. in hyperpolarized (hp) gas mri, a dramatic increase in spin polarization is achieved using spin-exchange optical pumping (seop), which allows images to be obtained with a high signal-to-noise ratio (snr). batch-mode custom-built polarizers can serve to produce the hp gas, however, such custom-built systems require optimization in terms of pressure and temperature parameters. this study is comprised of three objectives: i) gaining understanding regarding the physics of the nuclear polarization process of 129xe; ii) examining experimentally the pressure and temperature dependences of the polarization, similarly to the way it was done in previous studies; iii) exploiting this knowledge for the benefit of the optimization of the custom-built polarizer in our lab.