The pulsed compression reactor promises to be a compact, economical and energy efficient alternative to conventional chemical reactors. While its design and operation is similar to that of a free piston internal combustion engine, it does not benefit from any controllability through the load. Experimental data and simulation results are presented in this article. They form the basis for an approach that describes the functioning, controllability and run-away possibility of the pulsed compression reactor. The approach demonstrates that two operating points can be identified: a stable operating point and an unstable operating point. For any process performed in the pulsed compression reactor, there will either be no operating point, in which case it will not be able to sustain this process in the reactor, there will be only a stable operating point, in which case the process will automatically converge to this point once initiated, or there will be both a stable and an unstable operating point, in which case the process can be sustained at the stable operating point, but not at or beyond the unstable one. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.