Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque will be cool for iftar

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre has installed almost 200 portable cooling devices that will keep the mosque's outer areas cool until the end of Ramadan.

Eighty-four gigantic fans are being placed at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in preparation for Ramadan. DELORES JOHNSON / The National

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre has installed 180 portable cooling devices that will keep the Abu Dhabi's mosque's outer areas cool until the end of Ramadan.

"When they're breaking the fast, everyone will be comfortable," said Robert Mangiaforte, director of international sales at Port-A-Cool, a Texas-based company that has won a contract to install 84 outdoor cooling devices.

Thousands of people gather at the mosque daily during the holy month when temperatures will be close to their annual peak this year.

"The idea is to cool the iftar," said Christos Haritonides, the president of Cool Group, the Dubai-based distributor for Mist & Cool USA, which is installing a further 96 devices at the mosque. "They're serving a lot of people there - quite a few thousand."

The devices coat a surface made of cellulose paper with water, producing cool air as it evaporates in the heat. The paper, placed in a honeycomb-like structure, is treated to prevent rotting or funghi. The air is then dispersed across a wide area by a large fan, allowing 240-250 square meters surrounding the unit to be imbued with cool air.

"Evaporative cooling has been around for ages," Mr Mangiaforte said. "Egyptian people in the desert used evaporative cooling - they would use linen dunked in water. Some of that water will inevitably cool the air and the room becomes cooler."

Port-A-Cool's units each cost about 19 fils per hour to run, making use of eight gallons of water and 1.3kw of electricity every hour they are active.

Portable cooling devices are big business in the Arabian Gulf, especially for industrial uses.

Port-A-Cool sells to industrial clients such as Emirates Steel and Bridgestone Tyres, as well as for residential use including cooling villas, while Cool Group has a number of contracts with car showrooms, port facilities and restaurants across Dubai.

Mr Mangiaforte claims the system is up to 30 times more efficient than air conditioning, but portability offers other benefits unrivalled by fixed cooling devices. "These units are used where AC can't be used," he said.