Airlock

An airlock is a hermetically sealable space between two different pressure ranges, which allows you to switch from one to the other without this leading to a pressure balance between the two areas.

The pressure lock is used to supply and discharge of gases, liquids and solids. The best known, however, is the use for people who reside in areas with higher or lower pressure than the normal atmospheric pressure of the Earth's surface. They also often serves to prevent the negative effects of the compression and decompression. Pressure locks we therefore find, for example,

• Submarines to exit or enter during the dive;
• During space missions to leave or enter the missile;
• In the use of diving bells, diving wells and diving bells ships;
• In decompression chambers;
• In underwater work on lock gates;
• In tunneling subways when they are set to prevent ingress of water under elevated pressure;
• Also when working on the sewage system, even in pure machine use;
• In underground mining for supply bombs and rescue of persons;
• Air-inflated structures.

Since this usually is the pressure balance of breathable air, the sheath is often referred to as an air sluice.