Pressure-wave supercharger (PWS) is a technical way to raise engine intake pressure. In this research, a compression-ignition (CI) engine is boosted by COMPREX PWS and the performance of the engine was tested. In order to improve the power of the PWS diesel engine, the Grey Relational Analysis was completed. The analysis results show that two factors, the intake air flow and the exhaust gas temperature, have the most important influences on the PWS engine power. Thus the volume of the intake manifold is enlarged to increase intake air flow while the exhaust manifold is wrapped by asbestos with an iron cover to preserve the high exhaust gas temperature. Consequently, the final experimental results show that both the power and the torque have been built up as well as excellent fast response to various load. Together with experimental test, the Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation was completed based on a three-dimensional (3D) model of the PWS rotor channel. The CFD simulation shows that the inner exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) phenomenon happens especially at middle PWS rotational speed with 30% of full load. The test results demonstrate that the PWS diesel engine performs better with less NOx and soot emissions. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.