Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF MAY 30, 2010 FBO #3109
SOLICITATION NOTICE

44 -- High Temperature Furnace System

Notice Date

5/28/2010
 

Notice Type

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
 

NAICS

333994 — Industrial Process Furnace and Oven Manufacturing
 

Contracting Office

Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Room B129, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899-1640
 

ZIP Code

20899-1640
 

Solicitation Number

SB1341-10-RQ-0296
 

Archive Date

7/30/2010
 

Point of Contact

Joni L Laster, Phone: 301-975-8397, Carol A. Wood, Phone: 301-975-8172
 

E-Mail Address

joni.laster@nist.gov, carol.wood@nist.gov
(joni.laster@nist.gov, carol.wood@nist.gov)
 

Small Business Set-Aside

Total Small Business
 

Description

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. THE SOLICITATION IS BEING ISSUED USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES. This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-41. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 333994 with a small business size standard of 500 employees. This acquisition is 100% set-aside for small business. In accordance with the non-manufacturer rule, the manufacturer and distributor of these supplies must be a small business in accordance with the NAICS code identified. For size purposes, there can be only one manufacturer of the end item being acquired. The manufacturer is the concern which, with its own facilities, performs the primary activities in transforming inorganic or organic substances, including the assembly of parts and components, into the end item being acquired. The end item must possess characteristics which, as a result of mechanical, chemical or human action, it did not possess before the original substances, parts or components were assembled or transformed. The end item may be finished and ready for utilization or consumption, or it may be semi finished as a raw material to be used in further manufacturing. Firms which perform only minimal operations upon the item being procured do not qualify as manufacturers of the end item. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a requirement for a furnace system for processing non-corrosive non-volatile solid samples at controlled temperatures up to 2100 degrees Celsius in Argon gas from 200 Torr to 1000 Torr and in rough vacuum. All equipment must be new. Refurbished and or remanufactured shall not be considered for award. DEFINITIONS: Hot Zone: Region located inside the furnace chamber which contains the heating elements and the open region interior to the heating elements (the hearth) where samples are heated to a selected temperature (the Temperature Set Point). Temperature Set Point: A user-determined setting stored in the memory of the electronic temperature control unit as the reference temperature for automatic control of the hot zone temperature. In normal operation, this is the hot zone temperature reached by applying power to the heating elements, and then maintained when the system is using feedback to control the power provided to the heating elements. Safe Rate: A rate of heating or cooling that the furnace system is designed to provide with no damage or deterioration occurring in any of the system components. Overshoot: The condition that occurs when the rate of heating is poorly controlled, such that the actual temperature of the hot zone exceeds the Temperature Set Point. The Temperature Set Point should be reached under conditions of critical damping, in which the temperature control unit anticipates the amount of power that is required to monotonically approach the desired temperature with minimum settling time and no measureable overshoot in temperature. Communication Bus: The digital electronic interface that provides data from the system control units to a central, user-supplied computer, and that allows the computer to communicate settings and commands to the system controllers. All interested Contractors shall provide a quote for the following line items: Line Item 0001: Quantity One (1) each High Temperature Furnace System, that shall include all of the following components and shall meet or exceed all of the following minimum specifications: 1) Furnace Chamber must contain the heating elements and hot zone material to 2100 degrees C: 1.1 Primary vacuum chamber material must be type 304 stainless steel with electro-polished internal finish. All parts of the vacuum chamber shall be welded and/or brazed construction with non-magnetic and non-corroding material, vacuum-leak-tight to 1E-6 Torr ; 1.2 Hinged access port with at least 10 cm (4 in.) inner diameter (ID) free access; 1.3 Furnace chamber walls shall be water-cooled with all externally accessible surfaces maintained below 65 degrees Celsius temperature. Additional water cooling must be provided for the Argon gas vented through the vacuum port at a rate of 1 to 2 liters per second as required to cool the hot zone as described in Sections 2.5and 4.8; 1.4 Vacuum pump port with minimum 2.5 cm (1.0 in) ID; 1.5 Sight window for furnace interior with minimum 1.6 cm (0.62 in) viewing diameter; 1.6 One user access port with Conflat-type 2.5 cm (1.0 in) ID and blank flange seal; 1.7 Water-cooled power feed-throughs for heating elements, with all necessary power cables and heating elements installed; 1.8 Thermocouples and o-rings must be commercially available and of a non-proprietary design. 2) Hot Zone Construction: 2.1 Graphite heating element with minimum 10 cm (4 in.) ID and minimum 10 cm (4 in.) depth; 2.2 Additional graphite heat shields as needed to provide even heat distribution/insulation; 2.3 A horizontal Graphite hearth to support the process material; 2.4 All elements shall be designed for fast heating to the Temperature Set Point with the rate of heating from 1600 degrees C to 2100 degrees C being at least 0.5 degrees C per second. A maximum rate of 5 degrees C per second is acceptable. This heating process shall be compatible with the presence of any Argon gas pressure between zero and 1000 Torr. The demonstrated maximum Safe Rate of heating with Argon background gas at pressures of 200 Torr and 1000 Torr from a starting Temperature Set Point of 1600 degrees C to a subsequent Temperature Set Point of 2100 degrees C is critical. A higher safe rate of heating is preferred, [up to 5 degrees C per second]; 2.5 All elements shall be designed for passive cooling accomplished by still Argon background gas and also designed for fast cooling by flowing Argon gas through the furnace chamber at 1 to 2 liters per second using the vacuum pump and process gas control system described in Section 4.3. The demonstrated maximum Safe Rate of cooling with Argon background gas at pressures of 200 Torr and 1000 Torr from a starting Temperature Set Point of 2100 degrees C to a subsequent Temperature Set Point of 1600 degrees C is critical. A higher safe rate of cooling is preferred, [up to 5 degrees C per second]; 2.6 Temperature uniformity of +/- 10 degrees Celcius at temperatures from 1600 deg C to 2100 deg C over hearth region of 6 cm diameter and 6 cm height, in vacuum or with Argon background gas at a constant pressure between zero and 1000 Torr is required. Better uniformity is preferred; 3) Temperature control system fully assembled and tested for automatic temperature control; 3.1 Programmable temperature controller with one thermocouple sensor input, using proportional integral derivative (PID) algorithm output to control hot zone temperature at users temperature set points to better than +/- 10 deg C absolute accuracy over the range from 1600 degrees C to 2100 degrees C. Temperature must settle to within +/- 10 degreees C after a change in the temperature set point to a higher temperature set point. Upon reaching the higher temperature set point, overshoot shall not be greater than 10 degrees C. Minimum time to acquire set point temperature and minimum overshoot in acquiring set point are both preferred. 3.2 Two thermocouple sensors suitable for operation to 2100 C with accuracy of +/- 1% over range from 800 C to 2100 C. The minimum lifetime of the sensors must be 200 hours. 3.3 Communication bus to allow remote computer to control programmable temperature controller described in Specification 3.1.(Communication bus shall also allow the remote computer to read the temperature of one or both thermocouple sensors from the temperature controller. 3.4 Temperature control system must incorporate safety shutdown feature to shutdown heating operation in the event the Hot Zone temperature exceeds 2125 degrees C. 4) Vacuum pumping and process gas system fully assembled and tested to safely control furnace operating pressure at minimum attainable vacuum or, with Argon gas at controlled pressure. What the vacuum pumping & process gas system will be used with is a user-supplied dry-lubricated oil-free Roots-type vacuum pump with at least 12 cubic meters/hour pumping speed. 4.1 Over-pressure relief valve(s) for furnace chamber. 4.2 Gas flow meter and manual flow control valve to control furnace chamber inlet Argon gas flow from 0.05 liter/s to 2 liter/s at furnace chamber pressures from 200Torr to 1000 Torr. 4.3 Electronically-controlled butterfly conductance control valve in the pumping line, with all-metal seals suitable for use with high temperature gases (i.e. Argon gas passing through the furnace), with maximum conductance to enable cooling the hot zone (with heating power off) starting at the maximum operating temperature by flowing Argon gas at 1 to 2 liters/s through the furnace, and with suitable minimum conductance to enable operation of the furnace chamber at Argon gas pressures between 200 Torr and 1000 Torr with Argon flow rate below 0.2 liters/s. 2 liters/s maximum conductance is acceptable; Lower minimum conductance is preferred. 4.4 Electronic Capacitance Manometer pressure gauge sensing the Furnace Chamber pressure, with range 1000 Torr to 5E-1 Torr with an absolute accuracy of 0.5%. 4.5 Electronic conductance control valve unit in line between the furnace chamber vacuum port and the user-supplied vacuum pump which enables automatic pressure control to +/- 10 Torr between 200 Torr and 1000 Torr as measured by the furnace chamber pressure gauge. 4.6 Electronic vacuum gauge and conductance valve controller configured to enable front-panel control of the system pressure, equipped with a communication bus to allow remote computer control of the pressure control system including operation of vacuum gauge and the controller. 4.7 Digital pressure readout accurate to +/- 0.5% and accessible using the communications bus,including all wiring and cables; 4.8 All gas and vacuum lines must be vacuum-leak-tight to 1E-6 Torr. 5) Power Supply for heating elements, including: 5.1 Three phase power supply to operate with 460 V-480 V/60 Hz service, with power regulation and over-current-limit protection circuitry, and with line power 25 kVA maximum; 5.2 Fuses or circuit breakers for hot zone conductors to heating elements; 5.3 Flexible water-cooled power cables to connect electrical current leads to furnace power feed-throughs; 5.4 Power interlocks to allow power to heating elements only when both 1) cooling water flow alarm system is satisfied, and 2) over-temperature alarm system which monitors the Hot Zone temperature is satisfied, together indicating a safe operating range of water flow and furnace temperature; 6) Control console and cabinet housing furnace, power supply, and all controls: 6.1 Free standing cabinet must allow access to furnace and clear area for using sight window; 6.2 Water inlet supply and outlet discharge manifolds to distribute suitable purified cooling water to all parts of the system, with one or more manual one-quarter-turn ball valves for controlling flow to each part, with water lines and valves securely attached and accessible and with U.S. standardized fittings, with total water supply requirements specified; 6.3 One water flow sensor on the water discharge manifold to provide alarm input for temperature process controller if water-flow interruption occurs for more than 5 seconds; 6.4 Three-phase power line with U.S. standard power plug; 6.5 Step-down transformer to supply power for instruments and control circuitry; 6.6 Must give the user the ability to monitor current via analog or digital ammeter readouts for the hot zone heating elements; 6.7 Must give the user the ability to monitor voltage via analog or digital voltmeter readouts for the hot zone heating elements; 6.8 One flexible stainless-steel vacuum tube with Id at least 1 inch, of length 12', to connect the system to the User's vacuum pump (as defined in specification 4), terminated with a ISO-KF DN25 flange. 7) Documentation: 7.1 Standard Commercial Operation manuals, installation instructions, troubleshooting and repair instructions; 8) Certificate of Compliance that equipment is constructed in accordance with the following: 8.1 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70, "National Electrical Code"; 8.2 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 79, "Electrical Standards for Industrial Machinery"; 8.3 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 86C, "Standard for Industrial Furnaces using a special processing atmosphere"; 8.4 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 86D, "Standard for Industrial Furnaces using vacuum as an atmosphere"; Line Item 0002: BLOCKS OF GRAPHITE MATERIAL The Contractor shall deliver blocks of graphite material used for the hearth. Blocks shall be no smaller than 0.7 cm thick by 3cm by 2.5cm. The total amount of graphite delivered must be sufficient for NIST to make four blocks in the required size given above. Blocks of graphite material shall be delivered to NIST not later than 6 weeks before the system is delivered. LINE ITEM 0003: Design Not later than 30 days after award, the Contractor shall provide a computer generated, scaled, top and side view drawings of the system. The drawing must be in high resolution PDF file format. The drawings shall be detailed sufficiently to serve as "as-built drawings" for the system the Contractor intends to manufacture. Drawings shall be submitted to the NIST Technical Information Contact (TIC), (to be identified at the time of award), for approval before the Contractor orders parts or commences manufacturing of the system. Drawings will be reviewed and written comments or approval provided to the Contractor within 5 business days. The Contractor shall revise drawings, based on comments provided by the TIC, and submit final drawings for review and final approval. Revisions shall be completed at no additional cost to the Government. The Contractor shall not proceed to manufacture the system without the written approval of the TIC. The system shall be manufactured in accordance with the design drawing. Should the design require a change, the Contractor must obtain the approval of the TIC and the Contracting Officer prior to implementing the change. A final as-built drawing shall be delivered with the system. Approval by the Government as required above shall not relieve the Contractor of its obligation to comply with the specifications and with all other requirements of the contract, nor shall it impose upon the Government any liability it would not have had in the absence of such approval. LINE ITEM 0004: Installation: The Contractor shall provide installation for the system. Installation shall be completed on-site at NIST Gaithersburg and shall include, at a minimum, uncrating/unpacking of all equipment, set-up and hook-up of the system, turn-key start up, and demonstration of all performance specifications. LINE ITEM 0005: Training: The Contractor shall schedule and facilitate one (1) training session for NIST personnel on-site at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD. The training shall provide a thorough demonstration of all equipment functions, maintenance, and basic troubleshooting. The training may be completed at NIST immediately after installation and demonstration of performance specifications, however, not later than 30 days after successful completion of installation and demonstration of performance specifications. Installation and training shall be scheduled in advance with the TIC. LINE ITEM 0006: Warranty: The Contractor shall provide, at a minimum, a one year warranty period for the system. Warranty shall cover materials and workmanship including vacuum chamber but excluding consumables such as thermocouples, O-rings, shields and heating elements. Warranty shall be on-site or return to Contractor's site, at the discretion of the Contractor. All costs associated with parts, labor, travel and shipping shall be covered under the warranty. The warranty shall commence upon final acceptance by the Government. Final acceptance shall be provided upon successful completion of delivery, installation, training and demonstration of all performance specifications. Delivery, installation, training, and demonstration of performance specifications shall be completed not later than 120 days after receipt of an order. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE: Upon completion of the system being manufactured, but prior to shipment, the Contractor shall provide a certification or report documenting the system testing performed in the factory and that the system has met all performance specifications. At a minimum, manual operation of the pressure control system (all sensors, controls and valves) must be demonstrated. The control system, at a minimum, should be factory tested as follows: 1) The furnace must be cycled from a Temperature Set Point of 1600 degrees C to a Temperature Set Point of 2100degrees C at the maximum safe rate of heating, with Argon background gas pressures of 200 Torr and 1000 Torr. The hot zone temperature shall be monitored and the time required to heat from 1600 degrees C to 2100 degrees C and to hold the temperature of 2100 degrees C within +/- 10 degrees C shall be measured for background gas pressures of 200 Torr and 1000 Torr. The rates of heating determined from these measured times shall be at least as great as those described in specification 2.4. The absence of Overshoot in the measured hot zone temperature shall be confirmed. 2) Starting with the temperature of the Hot zone region at a Temperature Set Point 2100 degrees C, the furnace must be cycled to a temperature set point of 1600 degrees C with still Argon background gas (with minimum flow rate of Argon gas through the furnace chamber) for Argon background gas pressures of 200 Torr and 1000 Torr. The hot zone temperature shall be monitored and the time required to cool from 2100 degrees C to 1600 degrees C shall be measured. The rates of cooling determined from these measured times shall be at least as great as those described in the specification 2.5 for each background gas pressure. 3) Starting with the temperature of the Hot Zone region at 2100 degrees C, the hot zone temperature must be cycled to a temperature of 1600 degrees C or below using flowing Argon gas as described in sections 2.5 and 4.3. Delivery terms shall be FOB Destination. FOB Destination means: The contractor shall pack and mark the shipment in conformance with carrier requirements, deliver the shipment in good order and condition to the point of delivery specified in the purchase order, be responsible for any loss of and/or damage to the goods occurring before receipt and acceptance of the shipment by the consignee at the delivery point specified in the purchase order; and pay all charges to the specified point of delivery. The contractor shall deliver all line items to NIST, Building 301, Shipping and Receiving, Gaithersburg, MD 20899. Evaluation Criteria: The Government will award a purchase order resulting from this solicitation to the responsible quoter whose quotation, conforming to the solicitation, results in the best value to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following will be used to evaluate quotations: Technical Capability, Past Performance, Experience and Price. Technical Capability, Past Performance and Experience shall be approximately equal in importance to price. Of the non-price factors, technical capability shall be most important. In determining best value, preference shall be given to systems with documented exceedances identified in specifications 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.1 and 4.3 of Line Item 0001. Technical Capability Technical Capability shall be evaluated to determine the Contractor's overall ability to successfully complete the project. Technical capability shall be based on the documentation provided in the quotation. Technical capability shall be evaluated through a review of the technical design submitted. The technical design shall be evaluated to determine: -That the proposed commercial components will meet the requirements of the solicitation and are suitable for high vacuum chambers; -That integration of controllers, sensors, pumps and heaters will be implemented in a manner such that the system will work as one unit. Technical descriptions and product literature submitted shall be evaluated to determine that the proposed components meet or exceed the minimum specifications stated herein. The technical drawing shall be evaluated to determine its overall feasibility, compliance with the required specifications, and likelihood for success in meeting all system performance specifications. Experience: Experience shall be evaluated to determine the degree of experience the Contractor possesses designing and fabricating high vacuum chambers, designing and fabricating furnaces for high-temperature materials, and integrating multiple components such that systems work as one unit. Past Performance Past Performance will be evaluated to determine the overall quality of the product & service provided and the Contractor's history of successfully meeting delivery schedules. Evaluation of Past Performance shall be based on the references provided and/or the quoters recent and relevant procurement history with NIST or its' affiliates. The full text of a FAR provision or clause may be accessed electronically at http://acquisition.gov/comp/far/index.html. The following provisions apply to this acquisition: 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items; 52.212-3 Offerors Representations and Certifications- Commercial Items. Offerors must complete annual representations and certifications on-line at http://orca.bpn.gov in accordance with FAR 52.212-3 Offerors Representations and Certifications- Commercial Items. If paragraph (j) of the provision is applicable, a written submission is required. The following clauses apply to this acquisition: 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items; 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items including subparagraphs: 52.219-28 Post-Award Small Business Program Representation; 52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside; 52.222-3, Convict Labor; 52.222-19 Child Labor - Cooperation With Authorities And Remedies; 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities; 52-222-26, Equal Opportunity; 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities; 52.225-1 Buy American Act - Supplies 52.225-13 Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases; 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-Central Contractor Registration and Department of Commerce Agency-Level Protest Procedures Level above the Contracting Officer is also incorporated. It can be downloaded at www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/agency.htm. Required Submissions: 1. For the purpose of evaluation of Technical Capability, all quoters shall submit all of the following: a. For all commercial components, an original and one (1) copy of the technical description and/or product literature which clearly demonstrates that the proposed components meet or exceed the Governments minimum required specifications; b. Documentation to support all minimum required specifications. The following data must be submitted: Spec 2.4 The demonstrated maximum safe rate of heating from a starting temperature of 1600 deg C to the maximum temperature of 2100 deg C must be provided in units of degrees C per second with data supplied for operating pressures of 200 Torr and 1000 Torr. Spec 3.1 Data supplied must demonstrate that the selected final temperature can be reached with overshoot less than 10 degrees C and that the temperature settles to within +/- 10 degrees C. Spec 3.2 Submit reference tables (temperature vs. voltage) for thermocouple sensor and sensor lifetime quoted in hours at the quoted accuracy and at the maximum temperature of 2100 deg C. c. A technical drawing, in high resolution PDF Format, which clearly illustrates all of the following: -Exact dimensions of the proposed chamber; -Placement of the electrical components and feed-throughs, vacuum ports and viewing window; -Locations for pre-installed components such as the sample platform, heaters, temperature sensor or sensors. 2. Experience: Documentation which demonstrates the degree of experience the Contractor possesses designing and fabricating high vacuum chambers, designing and fabricating furnaces for high-temperature materials, and integrating multiple components such that systems work as one unit. Experience may be demonstrated through a technical discussion of experience and/or pictures and/or technical descriptions of systems that the Contractor has previously designed. 3. Past Performance Quoters must provide a list of at least three (3) references to whom the same or similar equipment has been provided. The list of references shall include, at a minimum: The name of the reference contact person and the company or organization; the telephone number of the reference contact person; the contract or grant number; the amount of the contract and the address and the telephone number of the Contracting Officer if applicable; the date of delivery or the date services were completed and a description of the equipment sold to the three (3) references; 4. An original and one (1) copy of a quotation which addresses all line items; 5. This is an Open-Market Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for equipment as defined herein. The Government intends to award a Purchase Order as a result of this Combined Synopsis/Solicitation that will include the terms and conditions that are set forth herein. In order to facilitate the award process, ALL quotes shall include a statement regarding the terms and conditions herein as follows: The offeror shall state "The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document without modification, deletion, or addition." OR The offeror shall state "The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following: Offeror shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s) Please note that this procurement is not being conducted under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program or another Government-Wide Area Contract (GWAC). If an offeror submits a quotation based upon an FSS or GWAC contract, the Government will accept the quoted price. However, the terms and conditions stated herein will be included in any resultant Purchase Order, not the terms and conditions of the offeror's FSS or GWAC contract, and the statement required above shall be included in the quotation. All quotes must be received not later than 3:00 PM local time, on June 14, 2010 at the National Institute of Standards & Technology, Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Room B125, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1640, Attn: Joni Laster. Any questions or concerns regarding this solicitation should be forwarded in writing via e-mail to the Contract Specialist (Joni L. Laster) @ joni.laster@nist.gov. Because of heightened security, FED-EX, UPS, or similar delivery methods are the preferred method of delivery of quotes. If quotes are hand delivered, delivery shall be made on the actual due date through Gate A, and a 24-hour (excluding weekends and holidays) prior notice shall be made to the Contracts Office at 301-975-8397. Electronic quotes are acceptable; however, faxed quotes shall not be accepted. Quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government until the quotation is entered into the e-mail address inbox set forth above.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOC/NIST/AcAsD/SB1341-10-RQ-0296/listing.html)
 

Place of Performance

Address: 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, United States

Zip Code: 20899
 

Record

SN02164075-W 20100530/100529000005-8d79d021a2efe800de0c3aa2c53e033e (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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