AIREPAC: Automated Innovative Rapid Egress Portable Airlock Concept

Airlocks have been widely used between environments of different gases to minimize or prevent the gases from mixing. They act as a buffer zone between the clean areas and the contaminated areas. Currently airlock technology employs large flush volumes and relative long time for air exchange. Moreover, high rate of effusion causes transfer of contaminated air between chambers. To address the Air Force’s need for an airlock that operated at low rates of effusion with a high passage rate, Lynntech proposes to develop an innovative rapid-escape airlock that maximizes contaminant removal and minimizes the rate of effusion from the clean area. It is portable, cost-effective, and compatible with a wide variety of contamination conditions.