A Review of Engine’s Performance When Supercharging by a Pressure Wave Supercharger

Improving the performance of internal combustion engines (ICE), together with lowering emissions, are the main targets for specialists in the automotive field. One option for increasing engine efficiency is creating a considerable amount of boost for the inlet combustion air by means of supercharging. In addition to common turbochargers, an alternative solution that has interested researchers for almost a century is the pressure wave supercharger (PWS). This paper is, at first, a complimentary tribute to most of the researchers that studied, experimented with and improved PW supercharging technology from the 50′s to the present. Second, this review emphasizes the performance achieved by ICEs when using PW supercharging, highlighting the limits of these main parameters in different operating conditions, based on the main reported results in the literature. It also provides an overview of PW supercharging technology, with its main advantages and disadvantages and suggests some technical solutions or geometric adjustments to improve its operation. Even though in recent years this technology has registered a decrease of interest, there are still preoccupations, especially in the aeronautical industry, justified by the profitability and simplicity of PW devices. The results of this theoretical work can be exploited practically in PWS design and applications.