Airlock

This is critical in underwater diving, and a diver or compressed air worker may have to wait in an airlock for a number of hours in accordance with a decompression schedule.

As of July 2023[update] it is the largest airlock of its kind on the station, capable of fitting "payloads as large as a refrigerator.

"[7] Airlocks are used in air-to-air environments for a variety of reasons, most of which center around either preventing airborne contaminants from entering or exiting an area, or maintaining the air pressure of the interior chamber.

One common use of airlock technology can be found in some cleanrooms, where harmful or otherwise undesired particulates can be excluded by maintaining the room at a higher pressure than the surroundings, alongside other measures.

Conversely, particulates are prevented from escaping hazardous environments, such as nuclear reactors, laboratories of biochemistry, and medical centers, by keeping negative room pressure - maintaining the room at a lower pressure than the surroundings, so that air (and any particulates that it carries) cannot escape easily.

Since the 1980s, airlock technology has been used to explore newly detected chambers in the Egyptian pyramids, to prevent the contents from beginning to decompose due to air contamination.

Underwater applications include: In saturation diving, airlocks are crucial safety elements; they serve as pressurized gateways to safely manage the transfer of divers and support personnel between the saturation system (living quarters) and the diving bell, which shuttles divers to their underwater worksite.

Complex "split-level" systems, which house divers at different pressure levels for varied work depths, may necessitate additional airlocks.

During this time, the airlocks allow divers to shift to a decompression chamber where pressure is progressively reduced back to surface levels.

In emergencies, airlocks can facilitate transfer to a hyperbaric escape chamber or lifeboat without significant pressure changes.