![Liquid nitrogen tank](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Liquid_Nitrogen_Tank.JPG)
A vacuum flask (also known as a Dewar flask, Dewar bottle or thermos) is an
insulating storage vessel that greatly lengthens the time over which its contents remain hotter or cooler than the flask's surroundings. Invented by
Sir James Dewar
Sir James Dewar (20 September 1842 – 27 March 1923) was a British chemist and physicist. He is best known for his invention of the vacuum flask, which he used in conjunction with research into the liquefaction of gases. He also studied ato ...
in 1892, the vacuum flask consists of two
flask
Flask may refer to:
Container
* Hip flask, a small container used to carry a small amount of liquid
* Laboratory flask, laboratory glassware for holding larger volumes than simple test tubes
** Erlenmeyer flask, a common laboratory flask wit ...
s, placed one within the other and joined at the neck. The gap between the two flasks is partially evacuated of air, creating a near-
vacuum
A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often dis ...
which significantly reduces heat transfer by
conduction
Conductor or conduction may refer to:
Music
* Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra.
* Conductor (album), ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas
* Conduction, a type of structured f ...
or
convection
Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convec ...
. When used to hold cold liquids, this also virtually eliminates condensation on the outside of the flask.
Vacuum flasks are used domestically to keep
beverage
A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies a ...
s hot or cold for extended periods of time, and for keeping cooked food hot. They are also used for
thermal cooking
A thermal cooker, or a vacuum flask cooker, is a cooking device that uses thermal insulation to retain heat and cook food without the continuous use of fuel or other heat source. It is a modern implementation of a haybox, which uses hay or straw ...
. Vacuum flasks are also used for many purposes in industry.
History
![Gustav R](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Gustav_R._Paalen%2C_Double_Welled_Vessel_1909.png)
The vacuum flask was designed and invented by Scottish scientist
Sir James Dewar
Sir James Dewar (20 September 1842 – 27 March 1923) was a British chemist and physicist. He is best known for his invention of the vacuum flask, which he used in conjunction with research into the liquefaction of gases. He also studied ato ...
in 1892 as a result of his research in the field of
cryogenics
In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures.
The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...
and is sometimes called a Dewar flask in his honour. While performing experiments in determining the
specific heat
In thermodynamics, the specific heat capacity (symbol ) of a substance is the heat capacity of a sample of the substance divided by the mass of the sample, also sometimes referred to as massic heat capacity. Informally, it is the amount of heat t ...
of the element
palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...
, Dewar made a brass chamber that he enclosed in another chamber to keep the palladium at its desired temperature.
He evacuated the air between the two chambers, creating a partial vacuum to keep the temperature of the contents stable. Dewar refused to patent his invention, and the flask, as developed by others using new materials such as
glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
and
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
, became a significant tool for chemical experiments and also a common household item.
[
Dewar's design was quickly transformed into a commercial item in 1904 as two German ]glassblower
Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...
s, Reinhold Burger
Thermos LLC is a manufacturer of insulated food and beverage containers and other consumer products. The original company was founded in Germany in 1904.
In 1989, the Thermos operating companies in Japan, the UK, Canada and Australia were acqu ...
and Albert Aschenbrenner, discovered that it could be used to keep cold drinks cold and warm drinks warm and invented a more robust flask design, which was suited for everyday use. The Dewar flask design had never been patented but the German men who discovered the commercial use for the product named it ''Thermos'', and subsequently claimed both the rights to the commercial product and the trademark to the name. In his subsequent attempt to claim the rights to the invention, Dewar instead lost a court case to the company. The manufacturing and performance of the Thermos bottle was significantly improved and refined by the Viennese inventor and merchant Gustav Robert Paalen, who designed various types for domestic use, which he also patented, and distributed widely, through the Thermos Bottle Companies in the United States, Canada and the UK, which bought licences for respective national markets. The American Thermos Bottle Company built up a mass production in Norwich, CT
Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long ...
, which brought prices down and enabled the wide distribution of the product for at-home use.[ Over time, the company expanded the size, shapes and materials of these consumer products, primarily used for carrying ]coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
on the go and carrying liquids on camping trips to keep them either hot or cold. Eventually other manufacturers produced similar products for consumer use.
The name later became a genericized trademark
A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products or ...
after the term "thermos" became the household name for such a vacuum-insulated container for liquids. The vacuum flask went on to be used for many different types of scientific experiments and the commercial "Thermos" was transformed into a common item. ''Thermos'' remains a registered trademark
The registered trademark symbol, , is a typographic symbol that provides notice that the preceding word or symbol is a trademark or service mark that has been registered with a national trademark office. A trademark is a symbol, word, or word ...
in some countries, but it was declared a genericized trademark by court action in the United States in 1963, since it had become colloquially synonymous with vacuum flasks in general. However, there are other vacuum flasks.
Design
The vacuum flask consists of two vessels, one placed within the other and joined at the neck. The gap between the two vessels is partially evacuated of air, creating a partial-vacuum
A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often dis ...
which reduces heat conduction
Conductor or conduction may refer to:
Music
* Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra.
* Conductor (album), ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas
* Conduction, a type of structured f ...
or convection
Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convec ...
. Heat transfer by thermal radiation
Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation generated by the thermal motion of particles in matter. Thermal radiation is generated when heat from the movement of charges in the material (electrons and protons in common forms of matter) is ...
may be minimized by silvering
Silvering is the chemical process of coating a non-conductive substrate such as glass with a reflective substance, to produce a mirror. While the metal is often silver, the term is used for the application of any reflective metal.
Process
Mos ...
flask surfaces facing the gap but can become problematic if the flask's contents or surroundings are very hot; hence vacuum flasks usually hold contents below the boiling point of water. Most heat transfer occurs through the neck and opening of the flask, where there is no vacuum. Vacuum flasks are usually made of metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
, borosilicate glass
Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with silica and boron trioxide as the main glass-forming constituents. Borosilicate glasses are known for having very low coefficients of thermal expansion (≈3 × 10−6 K−1 at 20 °C), ma ...
, foam
Foams are materials formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid.
A bath sponge and the head on a glass of beer are examples of foams. In most foams, the volume of gas is large, with thin films of liquid or solid separating the reg ...
or plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
and have their opening stoppered with cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
or polyethylene plastic. Vacuum flasks are often used as insulated shipping container Insulated shipping containers are a type of packaging used to ship temperature sensitive products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, organs, blood, biologic materials, vaccines and chemicals. They are used as part of a cold chain to help maintain pro ...
s.
Extremely large or long vacuum flasks sometimes cannot fully support the inner flask from the neck alone, so additional support is provided by ''spacers'' between the interior and exterior shell. These spacers act as a thermal bridge and partially reduce the insulating properties of the flask around the area where the spacer contacts the interior surface.
Several technological applications, such as NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...
and MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...
machines, rely on the use of double vacuum flasks. These flasks have two vacuum sections. The inner flask contains liquid helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
and the outer flask contains liquid nitrogen, with one vacuum section in between. The loss of precious helium is limited in this way.
Other improvements to the vacuum flask include the ''vapour-cooled radiation shield'' and the ''vapour-cooled neck'', both of which help to reduce evaporation from the flask.
Research and industry
In laboratories and industry, vacuum flasks are often used to hold liquefied gases (commonly liquid nitrogen with a boiling point of 77 K) for flash freezing, sample preparation and other processes where creating or maintaining an extreme low temperature is desired. Larger vacuum flasks store liquids that become gaseous at well below ambient temperature, such as oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
and nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
; in this case the leakage of heat into the extremely cold interior of the bottle results in a slow boiling-off of the liquid so that a narrow unstoppered opening, or a stoppered opening protected by a pressure relief valve
A relief valve or pressure relief valve (PRV) is a type of safety valve used to control or limit the pressure in a system; pressure might otherwise build up and create a process upset, instrument or equipment failure, or fire. The pressure is re ...
, is necessary to prevent pressure
Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and e ...
from building up and eventually shattering the flask. The insulation of the vacuum flask results in a very slow "boil" and thus the contents remain liquid for long periods without refrigeration
The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...
equipment.
Vacuum flasks have been used to house standard cell
In semiconductor design, standard cell methodology is a method of designing application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) with mostly digital-logic features. Standard cell methodology is an example of design abstraction, whereby a low-level v ...
s and ovenized Zener diode
A Zener diode is a special type of diode designed to reliably allow current to flow "backwards" (inverted polarity) when a certain set reverse voltage, known as the ''Zener voltage'', is reached.
Zener diodes are manufactured with a great varie ...
s, along with their printed circuit board, in precision voltage-regulating devices used as electrical standards. The flask helped with controlling the Zener temperature over a long time span and was used to reduce variations of the output voltage of the Zener standard owing to temperature fluctuation to within a few parts per million.
One notable use was by Guildline Instruments, of Canada, in their Transvolt, model 9154B, saturated standard cell, which is an electrical voltage standard. Here a silvered vacuum flask was encased in foam insulation and, using a large glass vacuum plug, held the saturated cell. The output of the device was 1.018 volts and was held to within a few parts per million.
The principle of the vacuum flask makes it ideal for storing certain types of rocket fuel, and NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
used it extensively in the propellant tanks of the Saturn launch vehicles in the 1960s and 1970s.
The design and shape of the Dewar flask was used as a model for optical
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...
experiments based on the idea that the shape of the two compartments with the space in between is similar to the way the light hits the eye. The vacuum flask has also been part of experiments using it as the capacitor of different chemicals in order to keep them at a consistent temperature.
The industrial Dewar flask is the base for a device used to passively insulate medical shipments. Most vaccines are sensitive to heat and require a cold chain
A cold chain is a low temperature-controlled supply chain network. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted series of refrigerated production, storage and distribution activities, along with associated equipment and logistics, which maintain qu ...
system to keep them at stable, near freezing temperatures. The Arktek device uses eight one-litre ice blocks to hold vaccines at under 10 °C
The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The ...
.
In the oil and gas industry, Dewar flasks are used to insulate the electronic components in wireline logging
Well logging, also known as borehole logging is the practice of making a detailed record (a ''well log'') of the geologic formations penetrated by a borehole. The log may be based either on visual inspection of samples brought to the surface (' ...
tools. Conventional logging tools (rated to 350°F) are upgraded to high-temperature specifications by installing all sensitive electronic components in a Dewar flask. [Baird, Tom, et al. "High-pressure, high-temperature well logging, perforating and testing." ''Oilfield Review'' 5.2/3 (1993): 15-32.]
Safety
Vacuum flasks are at risk of implosion hazard, and glass vessels under vacuum, in particular, may shatter unexpectedly. Chips, scratches or cracks can be a starting point for dangerous vessel failure, especially when the vessel temperature changes rapidly (when hot or cold liquid is added). Proper preparation of the Dewar vacuum flask by tempering prior to use is advised to maintain and optimize the functioning of the unit. Glass vacuum flasks are usually fitted into a metal base with the cylinder contained in or coated with mesh, aluminum or plastic to aid in handling, protect it from physical damage, and contain fragments should they break.
In addition, cryogenic storage dewars are usually pressurized, and they may explode if pressure relief valve
A relief valve or pressure relief valve (PRV) is a type of safety valve used to control or limit the pressure in a system; pressure might otherwise build up and create a process upset, instrument or equipment failure, or fire. The pressure is re ...
s are not used.
Thermal expansion
Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to change its shape, area, volume, and density in response to a change in temperature, usually not including phase transitions.
Temperature is a monotonic function of the average molecular kinetic ...
has to be taken into account when engineering a vacuum flask. The outer and inner walls are exposed to different temperatures and will expand at different rates. The vacuum flask can rupture due to the differential in thermal expansion between the outer and inner walls. Expansion joint
An expansion joint, or movement joint, is an assembly designed to hold parts together while safely absorbing temperature-induced expansion and contraction of building materials, and vibration, or to allow movement due to ground settlement or seis ...
s are commonly used in tubular vacuum flasks to avoid rupture and maintain vacuum integrity.
See also
* Thermal cooking
A thermal cooker, or a vacuum flask cooker, is a cooking device that uses thermal insulation to retain heat and cook food without the continuous use of fuel or other heat source. It is a modern implementation of a haybox, which uses hay or straw ...
* Hermetic seal
A hermetic seal is any type of sealing that makes a given object airtight (preventing the passage of air, oxygen, or other gases). The term originally applied to airtight glass containers, but as technology advanced it applied to a larger categor ...
* Sunshield (JWST)
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) sunshield is a passive thermal control system deployed post-launch to shield the telescope and instrumentation from the light and heat of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. By keeping the telescope and instruments ...
(The layers of its thermal shield use a vacuum barrier to provide insulation.)
* Tervis Tumbler
Tervis Tumbler Company is an American manufacturer of double-walled, Thermal insulation, insulated Tumbler (glass), tumblers. The double-wall insulation is made by inserting a liner inside an outer shell, creating a layer of air between them. Th ...
* Yeti Holdings
YETI is an American manufacturer specializing in outdoor products such as ice chests, vacuum-insulated stainless-steel drinkware, soft coolers, and related accessories. They are based in Austin, Texas.
History
YETI was founded by Roy and Ryan ...
References
Further reading
* Burger, R., , ''"Double walled vessel with a space for a vacuum between the walls,"'' December 3, 1907.
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
1892 introductions
Cryogenics
Scottish inventions
19th-century inventions
Containers