tyhjiöeristyksen

Tyhjiöeristys, known in English as vacuum insulation, is a method of thermal insulation that utilizes a vacuum to minimize heat transfer. This technique is based on the principle that heat cannot effectively travel through a vacuum, as there are very few particles to conduct or convect heat. Therefore, creating a vacuum between two surfaces significantly reduces the rate at which heat can move from one side to the other.

The most common application of vacuum insulation is in vacuum flasks, also known as thermoses. These containers typically consist of two nested walls, usually made of glass or stainless steel, with the space between them evacuated to create a vacuum. The surfaces of these walls are often coated with a reflective material, such as silver, to further reduce heat transfer through radiation. This combination of vacuum and reflective coating makes vacuum flasks highly effective at keeping hot liquids hot and cold liquids cold for extended periods.

Beyond consumer products like vacuum flasks, vacuum insulation technology is also employed in more specialized applications. It can be found in the construction of high-performance refrigerators and freezers, where it helps to maintain very low temperatures with minimal energy consumption. In the aerospace industry, vacuum insulation is crucial for protecting sensitive equipment from extreme temperature fluctuations in space. Advanced vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) are also being developed and used in building construction to achieve very high insulation values in thin profiles, which can be advantageous in space-constrained designs. The effectiveness of vacuum insulation is directly related to the quality of the vacuum; the better the vacuum, the lower the heat transfer.