Guide (Airlock) Atmosphere to Vacuum

Description

An Atmosphere to Vacuum Airlock is a Room that can evacuate and refill its internal volume with the Atmosphere connected to it. It has two or more airtight Portals which all do not open simultaneously. An Atmosphere to Vacuum Airlock allows passage between a pressurized environment and a (near) vacuum environment without the loss of Pressure.

An Atmosphere to Vacuum Airlock can be controlled automatically using a Circuitboard (Airlock) installed within a Console which will refer to the pressurized environment as "interior" and the vacuum environment as "exterior".

When activated with the interior-portal open, the system will automatically close the interior-portal and will activate all selected Active Vents to try to evacuate the interior-atmosphere from the airlock chamber. Only after a total vacuum is achieved within all of the Large Grid Volumes in which selected Gas Sensors reside will the exterior-portal automatically open.

When activated with the exterior-portal open, the system will automatically close the exterior-portal and will activate all selected Active Vents to pressurize the chamber with interior-atmosphere. Only after the airlock's internal pressure equals or exceeds 101 kPa will the interior-portal automatically open.

Materials

The minimum material requirements for an Atmosphere to Vacuum Airlock chamber are:

• 2 x Portals: variants of either Kit (Airlock), Kit (Blast Door), Kit (Door), or Kit (Docking Port)
• n x Materials for finishing the construction of the portal. For example Composite Door requires 1 x Plastic Sheets and 1 x Glass Sheets.
• 1 x Kit (Consoles) Console
• 1 x Circuitboard (Airlock) to determine the function of the console
• 1 x Glass Sheets for finishing the construction of the console
• 1 x Data Disk for programming of the console
• 1 x Kit (Sensors) Gas Sensor
• 1 x Kit (Active Vent)
• 2 x Kit (Pipe)
• n x Cable Coil

Optional materials:

• 1 x Kit (Passive Vent)
• 1 x Kit (Flashing Light) or 1 x Kit (Lights) + 1 x Spray Paint
• 1 x Kit (Power Controller)

Construction

A minimum Atmosphere to Vacuum Airlock can be constructed using the following instructions:

1. Place both Portals one Large Grid apart with the power and data ports facing into the airlock's interior.
2. Using the Labeller, rename each door as "Interior-Door" and "Exterior-Door" appropriately. Note that some doors have their tag sprayed onto them, so a different name may be more appealing, as long as its distinguishable.
3. Ensure the "Exterior-Door" is OPEN, and the "Interior-Door" is CLOSED.
4. Enclose the four remaining sides of the airlock chamber with airtight frames, walls, or windows.
5. Place Console, Active Vent, Gas Sensor, and optional Flashing Light or Kit (Lights) (and color it using Spray Paint) and Power Controller somewhere within the airlock's interior.
6. Ensure all placed devices are attached to the same Wire Network including the portals' power and data ports.
7. Ensure the airlock's wire network is connected to an active Power Supply and all devices can receive power.
8. Attach a Pipe Network to the Active Vent large enough to hold the volume of the airlock or pass it through to a Passive Vent placed in the "interior" environment.
9. Ensure the "interior" pipe network is not connected to any other pipe network.
10. Insert Circuitboard (Airlock) into the console, then place the Glass Sheet onto the console.
11. Insert Data Disk into the side slot of Console then power on the Console.
12. Use the console's up and down arrows to scroll through the list of devices. Click to select. Click again to deselect if incorrect
13. Find and click "Exterior-Door" followed by all caps and green "EXTERIOR". NOTE: OF THE DOORS, SELECT THIS FIRST!
14. Ensure the Exterior-Door's lock-indicator has turned from green to red.
15. Find and click "Interior-Door" followed by all caps and green "INTERIOR".
16. Ensure the Interior-Door's lock-indicator has turned from green to red.
17. Find and click "Active Vent" followed by all caps and green "VENT".
18. Find and click "Gas Sensor" followed by all caps and green "SENSOR".
19. Find and click "Flashing Light" or "Light" followed by all caps and green "LIGHT". (optional)
20. Remove Data Disk from the side slot of Console.

If there is an error the console screen will say so and the power light will flash yellow. Note that the text BEFORE the green is the name of the object and the text IN green is what slot on the circuitboard it will be linked to. These are filtered, so you cannot link a sensor to a door slot and vice versa. Also notice what the green text says after your doors and how that changes when selecting a door; It will ask for the 'Exterior' door first and 'Interior' door second.

Troubleshooting

When powered, all associated doors and vents are locked, preventing their manual use even when power is subsequently denied. This can be a problem when trapped within an airlock during a power outage. Best practise is to ensure the airlock's wire network is connected to an emergency Power Supply such as a Battery Cell equipped Power Controller.

A pressurization phase will stall if there is not enough gas available to the selected Active Vents to reach 101 kPa. Stalled pressurizations can be skipped by clicking the yellow "Cancel Pressurize" button on a console.

An airlock depressurization phase will not complete until the Large Grid Volumes in which all selected Gas Sensors reside are depleted of atmosphere. A leak from a pressurized environment into the airlock might cause the depressurization phase to stall. Stalled depressurizations can be skipped by clicking the yellow "Cancel Depressurize" button on a console.

In larger airlocks, ensure there is one Gas Sensor per Large Grid to prevent the premature opening of the exterior portal and the resulting loss of atmosphere, or install the Active Vent in the same Large Grid Volume where the exterior door is and the Gas Sensor in the same Large Grid Volume as the interior door or wherever is the furthest away from the Active Vent, as that will be the last volume becoming a vacuum.

Disconnecting objects may confuse the circuitboard, may prevent selection of different objects or lock out objects from manual interaction. This is not intended behaviour, but disconnecting the console from the rest and / or disassembling the console one or more times generally solves those kinds of issues. That will also clear the console of any past objects that either aren't connected anymore or have been renamed. It's annoying and can be dangerous if you fiddle with these setups (beyond regular use) whilst low on oxygen, hydration or nourishment, so be aware of that.

See Also

• Guide (Airlock)
• Guide (Airlock) Atmosphere to Atmosphere
• Guide (Airlock) Docking Ports

• Circuitboard (Advanced Airlock)
• Circuitboard (Airlock)
• Kit (Airlock)