BUSINESS

York Increases the number of its technicians by 25% during Haj

August 18, 2018

JEDDAH — Al Salem Johnson Controls “York” revealed that it has increased the number of it technicians working at Al-Masjid Al-Haram cooling stations and inside the Holy Mosque by 25%, during Ramadan, Umrah and Haj seasons, for preventive maintenance and immediate handling of emergencies, to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the chillers and air handling units.

The company is proud of its role in the operation and maintenance of Al-Masjid Al-Haram cooling stations for the fourth year in a row. The York chillers located in the two cooling stations are designed and customized to meet the requirements of cooling the Grand Mosque, especially during peak seasons.

Al Salem Johnson Controls accompanies the pilgrims on their Haj journey; starting with their arrival at King Abdulaziz International Airport, Haj Terminal, which is also cooled by York chillers and York Saudi made air handling units. York’s cool air accompanies the pilgrims to Al-Masjid Al-Haram so they are able to perform the Haj rituals and worship Allah with absolute comfort and tranquility. In addition, York chillers cool 70,000 liters of Zamzam water daily during Haj & Umrah seasons (equivalent to 296 thousand cups/day).

The company has also an active role in cooling other locations visited by the pilgrims during their journey in Makkah and the holy sites; for example, the clock tower, the Hilton Hotel and Dar AlTawheed Intercontinental Hotel in front of Al-Masjid Al-Haram, a number of hotels in Mina, and police stations and restrooms in the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, as well as the Jamarat area and the Saudi Arabia Project for Utilization of Haj Meat.

The CEO of Al Salem Johnson Controls “York” Dr. Mohanad AlShaikh said “We are proud to be operating and maintaining the cooling stations allocated for Al-Masjid Al-Haram. The first station is located 900 meters from the Holy Mosque in Al Shamiya District, and the initial operation of this cooling station started three years ago and most of the work has been completed. While the second station has been operational for the past five years and is located 500 meters away from Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Ajyad District."

Al-Masjid Al-Haram in Makkah is cooled by two cooling stations, with a total cooling capacity of 159,000 tons (equivalent to the cooling of 15,000 medium sized apartments). While the two stations are separate facilities in terms of location, their chiller technologies are integrated as one, to ensure the operation and cooling efficiency and sustainability all year through.

The first station is located 900 meters from the Holy Mosque, located in Al Shamiya, and is considered to be the second largest cooling plant in the world, with a total cooling capacity of 120,000 tons (equivalent to the cooling of 12,000 medium sized apartments). Al Shamiya station contains 24 York Centrifugal Chillers, the largest chillers in the world, using cooling towers for heat rejection. These chillers’ technology has been designed, engineered and customized to meet the cooling requirements of Al-Masjid Al-Haram, and to provide the guests of Allah with cool air, for them to comfortably perform Hajj and get closer to Allah.

The second station, which has been operating for the past five years, is located in Ajyad District, 500 meters away from the Holy Mosque, with a cooling capacity of 39,000 tons (equivalent to cooling of 3,000 medium sized apartments). It includes three Centrifugal Chillers with a capacity of 9,000 horsepower, 4 Chillers with a Variable Speed Drive technology, and 56 Chillers with a reciprocating compressor, all of which use radiators for heat rejection.

Al Salem Johnson Controls stated that the Variable Speed Technology in York Chillers has contributed in the reduction of noise and annual energy consumption by 30%. It also ensures the efficiency of cooling under all climatic and operational conditions, especially during the crowded and peak seasons of Ramadan, Umrah and Haj.

Al-Masjid Al-Haram is connected to the two cooling stations by underground tunnels. AlShamiya station tunnel of is 12 feet (3.6 meters) wide and 10 feet (3 meters) deep, and can fit a maintenance vehicle the size of a golf cart. The diameter of Al Ajyad station tunnel is 8 feet (2.4 meters) with a depth of 10 feet (3 meters). Each side of the tunnel has pipes to pump the cooled water to Al-Masjid Al-Haram and return the hot water to the stations to be re-cooled.

Al Salem Johnson Controls has assigned 85 engineers and technicians in Makkah, available 24/7 for service maintenance of the cooling stations and Air Handling Units inside Al-Masjid Al-Haram.

Al Salem Johnson Controls has the largest specialized after-market team in the Middle East, consisting of more than 2,000 employees, including highly experienced and competent managers, engineers and technicians, with the capabilities to deal with all types of periodic and preventive maintenance, as well as dealing with emergency situations in record time.

It should be noted that the service teams are present, round the clock, at Ajyad and Al Shamiya cooling stations and at Al-Masjid Al-Haram to ensure the operation and cooling efficiency. The service technicians periodically inspect and maintain all equipment for early intervention in the event of any malfunction, and address any problem within a short period of time, so that the chillers and air handling units can continue to work at full efficiency quickly. The efforts exerted are to make sure that the guests of Allah do not feel a change in the atmosphere while performing Haj and Umrah.

During peak seasons, such as Ramadan, Umrah and Haj, the company increases the number of York technicians by 25%, for rapid handling of emergencies and ensuring the safe operation of all cooling units.

The company’s role is not only to cool the air inside Al-Masjid Al-Haram while the pilgrims perform their rituals inside the Holy Mosque, but also to cater for their comfort during their accommodation and movements in Makkah. York operates and maintains the cooling station of King Abdulaziz Endowment (Clock Tower), as well as a cooling station in Jabal Omar area. Furthermore, York chillers and other York cooling units cool some of the most prominent hotels in Makkah, such as InterContinental Dar Al Tawhid Makkah, Makkah Hilton, Novotel Hotel, and a number of residential towers, such as AlRajhi Towers, AlTaiseer Towers and AlHidayah Towers.

The company is also keen to provide its innovative cooling solutions during the pilgrims' visits to the Holy Sites (Al-Mashaaer Al-Mugaddassah). York has equipped the Holy Sites with various cooling units in diversified types, sizes and capacities depending on cooling requirement and location, such as police stations and restrooms in Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah.

A Mina camp was also equipped with more than 70 York Free Standing Units and a number of High-Wall Units. And in Arafat, there are 200 Free Standing Units in the camps, as well as a number of York High-Wall Units at the Arafat train station. Moreover, Al Salem Johnson Controls has a service and maintenance contract with Mina General Hospital for its chillers.

As for Al Jamarat Bridge, it has been supplied with more than 60 Humidifier Units, manufactured locally at York factory in Jeddah. These cooling units, with the airflow peaking at a rate of 102,000 cubic meters per hour, work to cool the atmosphere for pilgrims when they come to the bridge to throw stones.

The company also provides rental solutions; designed to fit the requirements of temporary and additional seasonal cooling, such as the housing of the butchers working in the Saudi Project for Utilization of Haj Meat (Adahi), where the company provided the complex of four buildings with more than 120 Saudi-made Package Units, with a total cooling capacity of 2,900 tons. Additionally, the maintenance team constantly supervises the cooling units of the Adahi project to ensure the efficiency of cooling the slaughterhouses and meat storage areas.

After the pilgrims complete their rituals in Makkah, they move to their next stop in Madinah, where they are greeted by York’s VRF Units at Prince Muhammad Airport, and it continues to accompany them throughout the Prophet's Mosque and a number of nearby hotels. — SG


August 18, 2018
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