Originally posted by BlasteR
I'm just saying that it uses air in small amounts at a time for each detonation. Not exactly what we are used to with the more traditional
"air-breathing" engines from years gone past. But I get what you are saying too. Technically, since it uses an air-fuel mixture it is an
air-breathing engine. But a large majority of the air simply passes through the system. That's all I'm really saying.
What you seem to have a problem with is that a PDE is not a steady-state thermodynamic process, it's inherently transient. In conventional high
bypass turbofans (which are certainly not only "from years gone past"), most of the air passes through the system without being used for combustion,
but it's still an air-breathing engine. I guess I'm nitpicking, but these terms do have specific meanings, and an air-breathing engine is defined by
where the oxidizer used for combustion comes from, not the thermodynamic process or what comes out the back of the engine.
