Saudi-based Al Salem Johnson Controls (York), a leading multi-industrial company and a pioneering provider of integrated solutions, said its heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system played a significant role in the 48-hour sterilisation process at Makkah's grand mosque.

 

This was part of Saudi Arabia's several precautionary measures at the Makkah mosque in the wake of Covid-19, with a temporary hold on prayers and Umrah inside the Mosque until further notice, to ensure the safety of worshipers.

 

The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque is continuously implementing sterilisations and other precautionary measures, in preparation for the reopening of the two mosques once the pandemic situation subsides.

 

The Presidency had initially closed the mosque at Makkah for 48-hours in order to sterilize the entire premises.

 

A leading multi-industrial company, York incorporates HVAC equipment, fire and security systems, building management systems and controls, for residential, commercial and industrial sectors, in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt and Yemen.

 

On its Makkah mosque assignment, York said all its chillers at Al Shamiyah and Ajyad cooling plants and the Air Handling Units (AHUs) were shut down for 48 hours, in order to raise the temperature inside the mosque to around 30-32 degrees Celsius, the level required for the sterilisation. 

 

Simultaneously, the AHUs were inspected, and the filters, ducts, drain pans and cooling coils were cleaned and sterilised, to assure that clean high quality air is supplied and maintained throughout the Mosque, it stated.

 

CEO Dr Mohanad AlShaikh said York had allocated 135 service technicians for the grand mosque’s HVAC system, who are working around-the-clock at the cooling plants in Ajyad and Al Shamiyah, to ensure its smooth operation.

 

"Each York chiller takes about three to four minutes to be completely turned off. While the pipes connecting the chiller plants to the mosque, keep supplying the AHUs with chilled water for about 30 minutes, before the water becomes warm and the AHUs are turned off," he stated.

 

After the sterilisation was completed, and due to the reduced load inside the grand mosque these days, only 10% of the total cooling capacity was turned back on - sufficient to maintain a comfort zone for the few people inside the mosque, he added. 

 

According to him, York highlighted that the long-term storage service was a form of preventive maintenance applied on chillers that are in a non-operating mode over a long period of time. 

 

This maintenance is completed through frequent checkups, the monitoring of refrigerant and water pressure inside the chillers, to preserve the outer body of the chiller from moisture attacks and corrosion. Moreover, motor rotations and oiling are monitored, as well as the alignment of the chiller’s motor and compressor, he added.

 

AlShaikh pointed out that long before the Covid-19 outbreak, Al Salem Johnson Controls  had equipped the two mosques with specialised and tailor-made HVAC systems, which take into consideration the crowded nature of both locations, particularly in peak seasons such as Hajj and Umrah, as well as during prayer times.

 

"The York AHUs supply 100 per cent fresh air, by containing contaminated air and exhausting it to the outdoors, and then replacing it with well-treated fresh air, which re-enters the space after a rigorous filtration process," he explained. 

 

"They are equipped with filters that do not allow the passage of big particles to the air-conditioned environment, through multiple stages of filtration that can achieve up to 95 per cent filtration efficiency," he added.-TradeArabia News Service