In a Holzwarth gas turbine, high compressor efficiency is not needed since almost all the pressure rise takes place in sealed combustion chambers.

[2] The relatively poor efficiency of early centrifugal compressors made building a commercially viable constant pressure gas turbine impractical.

[4] In Holzwarth's constant volume design, combustion takes place in a closed chamber where the air–fuel mixture is ignited electrically in a manner similar to the Otto cycle in spark-ignition engines.

Since the pressure rise is driven primarily by the explosive expansion of gasses in the combustion chamber, an efficient compressor is not needed.

[2] Holzwarth's design attracted the attention of Brown, Boveri & Cie. who had collaborated on the 1906 Armengaud-Lemale gas turbine which had been unable to generate usable power in part due to poor compressor efficiency.

During this period tests were carried out using coal dust fuel which was found to burn acceptably in the combustion chamber but produced exhaust particles which damaged turbine blades.

[6] In 1928, Holzwarth once again collaborated with Brown, Boveri & Cie to build a version of his gas turbine with two sets of combustion chambers connected in series.

In 1933, a two-stage machine driving a 2,000-kilowatt (2,682 hp) generator was installed at the Thyssen steelworks in Hamborn where it was initially operated with fuel oil and later with blast furnace gas.

[6] The last Holzwarth gas turbine was an experimental 5,000-kilowatt (6,705 hp) machine built by Brown, Boveri & Cie's Mannheim factory in 1938 for the Hamborn steelworks.

[4] The first stage comprised the final charging of the combustion chamber, the explosion, the delivery of heat and energy in the steam generator and gas turbine.