Company says order is the largest in its history

As part of the biggest expansion plans ever undertaken for the Holy Mosque in Makkah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Al Salem Johnson Controls announced that it would be supplying 16 OM Chillers of York equipment for the Shamiya Central Utility Complex (CUC), located 1.35 kilometres from the Holy Mosque. According to the company, the plant, when completed, will reportedly be one of the foremost facilities in the world to help provide a quality environment for visiting pilgrims, in keeping with the Makkah expansion project.

Basil Abdulaziz, Managing Director, Al Salem Johnson Controls, Saudi Arabia, confirmed that the contract includes 16 York multi-stage industrial centrifugal OM chillers, of 5,000 TR each, with a cooling tower. The equipment will use HFC-134a refrigerant, which the company said, is environment friendly and does not contribute to ozone depletion.

According to Johnson Controls, the plant will help conserve water by processing Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE), acquired from ablution water. It further added that it would also reduce electricity consumption through the use of eight Solid State Starters (SSS) and eight Variable Speed Drives (VSDs), which, the company said, would be integrated seamlessly with BMS systems.

Arif Hussain, National Products Manager (LTC & STC), explained that there would be reduced pumping and piping costs by using many specialist equipment, such as 13.8kV TEWAC motors, thicker gauge 90-10 Cu-Ni tubes of condenser, 90-10 Cu-Ni cladding on tube sheets, sacrificial zinc anodes, vibration monitoring system, automatic tube brushing system, 0.71 kV/TR at very harsh design conditions and very high evaporator temperature split of 24°F design T. “By using OM ETC water-cooled centrifugal chillers, there would be huge savings on power consumption,” Hussain said. This would, thus, reduce the carbon footprint and, indirectly, global warming for every year the plant is operational, he added.

Abdulaziz added, “We are delighted to be suppliers for a noble initiative such as the Holy Mosque in Makkah.”

According to the company, the order was won due to the support of Shaikh Saleh M Binladen, who is a board member of Al Salem Johnson Controls Joint Venture.

Said Binladen, “It was a great honour for myself and for our joint venture partners at Johnson Controls in Saudi Arabia, to contribute in serving the greatest and highest place, where we strive continuously to provide the greatest efficiency and quality of Johnson Controls products.”