In the paper, the mechanism of pulse combustion, pulse combustors design and the range of applications of this technique in chemical engineering were presented. The results of the authors＇ own research containing optimization of pulse combustor with membrane valves were also given. During experiments, there were measured the amplitudes and frequencies of pressure oscillations inside the combustion chamber and at the outlet of the tailpipe, the emission of NOx, CO, CO2 and the noise level for various geometries of the combustion chamber and lengths of the tailpipe for different air/fuel ratios.