MAKKAH — Saudi Arabia has harnessed highly advanced technologies to provide the best ever facilities and services to the pilgrims and worshippers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah. These facilities include the world's two largest cooling stations installed at the Grand Mosque to ensure that worshippers perform their rituals in a cool and fresh atmosphere inside the mosque. The plants are instrumental in purifying the air in the Grand Mosque and softening and cooling the atmosphere during the holy month of Ramadan, which is the peak Umrah season. The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques strives to ensure fresh air inside the Grand Mosque using ultraviolet light air purification technology. The presidency purifies the air-conditioning inside the Grand Mosque nine times a day, before releasing the well-treated air into the mosque. The air filtration process, which ensures 100 percent air purity, is carried out in three stages, namely: moving air into filters using fans, capturing pollutants and particles, and then pushing clean air back into space. Eng. Amer Al-Luqmani, director of the General Administration of Operation and Maintenance, said that there are two cooling stations inside the Grand Mosque, which are the largest of their kind in the world: the Ajyad station produces 35,300 refrigeration tons, of which about 24,500 refrigeration tons are used, and the new central station has a capacity of 120,000 tons of refrigeration. The presidency provides backup cooling stations next to the main stations to maintain temperatures in the event of a technical failure and to ensure the purity of the air distributed inside the mosque. Al-Luqmani said that the administration takes care of the air conditioning by cleaning the filters, as their condition is monitored on a regular basis. "We are currently in the process of cooling the terminal and supplying it with 5500 refrigeration tons from the Ajyad station, and the air purification filters inside the air conditioning rooms are cleaned on a daily basis throughout the year. They are subject to meticulous maintenance and cleaning operations by highly qualified engineering and technical cadres, who supervise these works to ensure implementation according to technical principles and using the latest technologies," he said while noting that during the Ramadan and Hajj seasons there will be an increase of 25 percent in the number of workers to deal with emergency cases as well as to ensure the provision of the best services for the worshippers.
