SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE OF A FLIGHTPROTOTYPE HIGH PRESSURE ELECTRO MECHANICAL PUMPING DEVICE TO TRANSFER SUPERCRITICAL XENON
- Notice Date
- 3/31/2015
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 332420
— Metal Tank (Heavy Gauge) Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- NASA/John F. Kennedy Space Center, Procurement, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
- ZIP Code
- 32899
- Solicitation Number
- NNK15ZOPLR1L
- Response Due
- 4/21/2015
- Archive Date
- 3/31/2016
- Point of Contact
- Lynn E. Rafford, Contract Specialist, Phone 321-867-7364, Fax 321-867-1166, Email Lynn.E.Rafford@nasa.gov
- E-Mail Address
-
Lynn E. Rafford
(Lynn.E.Rafford@nasa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in collaboration with Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is hereby soliciting information about potential sources for the design, development, and manufacture of a High Pressure Electro-Mechanical Pumping Device to transfer gaseous or supercritical xenon. The device will use electro-mechanical action (e.g., piston, diaphragm, or other vendor recommended technology) to transfer supercritical xenon between two reservoirs at final pressures up to 3000 pounds per square inch absolute (psia). The pumping device may be a single- or multi-stage unit. The pumping device is intended to be used for a possible low-Earth orbit demonstration, and potentially scaled for larger quantity transfers to a spacecraft in cis-lunar space. The intent of this Request for Information (RFI) is to obtain information from industry to assist KSC in the development of this acquisition. NASA is soliciting initial intent of interest from all companies with past experience and qualifications in this type of flight component design, fabrication, and qualification to the requirements of AIAA S-080 or a similar aerospace code. NASA reserves the right to share all information received in response to this RFI throughout NASA and to use all information submitted in response to this RFI in NASAs formulation of a solicitation seeking competitive proposals. However, any submitted competition sensitive data should be clearly marked as proprietary, and will only be shared with the NASA Xenon Transfer Subsystem team members. Although information contained herein represents current program content and acquisition planning, it is subject to change. Response to this RFI is requested within the context of the general approach described in the following paragraphs. Preliminary Product Requirements 1. Design code: AIAA S-080 or similar aerospace code approved by NASA. 2. Maximum Expected Operating Pressure (MEOP): 3000 pounds per square inch absolute (psia) for the housing. 3. Transfer Rate: Approximately 1 kg transferred from Supply Tank to Receiver Tank in less than 2 hours given the following initial and final conditions: Initial Pressure at 22 C Supply Tank: 1190 psia Receiver Tank:70 psia Final Pressure at 22 C Supply Tank: No more than 210 psia Receiver Tank:At least 1130 psia * Note that the final pressures correspond to a 20:1 xenon mass compression ratio. 4. Operating temperature range: -10 to +60 degrees Celsius (C). 5. Non-operating temperature range: -50 to +150 C. 6. Fluid media: Xenon. 7. Materials: 304 or 316 series stainless steel, titanium, or other vendor recommended materials. 8. Mass: No more than 20 pounds but minimization of weight will be a key consideration when evaluating potential technologies. 9. Volume: The device should be no more than 15 inches (in) x 10 in x 6 in, though solutions that slightly exceed one or more of the dimensions would be considered. 10. Compression mechanism: Lubricant-free piston, diaphragm, or other vendor recommended mechanisms. 11. Allowable external leak rate: Less than 1 x 10-6 standard cubic centimeters per second of helium at MEOP. 12. Operational lifetime: At least 2 years on orbit with high reliability for up to 500 hours of use and 1000 on/off cycles. 13. Proof/acceptance testing (housing): 1.5 times MEOP (4500 psia). 14. Burst testing (housing): 2.5 times MEOP (7500 psia) by analysis or test. 15. Qualification: Units shall be qualified for launch environment of a medium class US rocket (Atlas V, Delta IV, or Falcon 9; consult payload planners guides). 16. Power consumption: Current and voltage requirements have not been determined, but minimization of power consumption will be a key consideration when evaluating potential technologies. 17. Balancing: Design should account for reducing induced torques (i.e., opposed cylinders, radial, multiple stages, multiple units in parallel, etc ) and to minimize vibration. 18. Contamination: Design shall preclude the introduction of any contaminants into fluid path. 19. Electrical/controls: Minimization of design complexity will be a key evaluation factor. Vendor Requirements after Award The vendor will be required to submit documentation demonstrating their companys core competencies (skills, knowledge, expertise, facilities, production equipment, and documentation systems), and a history of supplying products of a similar nature. The vendor will be required to submit design documentation for NASA approval prior to fabrication. The vendor will be required to supply all documentation during the design (including shop drawings and bills of materials for approval), fabrication, qualification, and acceptance phases. Specific Information Solicited for this Request for Information Responders to this RFI are encouraged to comment on any of the preliminary requirements listed and to express their interest in this proposed acquisition by submitting the following information: 1. Organization name, address, principal activity, business size, primary point of contact. 2. Product concepts that will meet the requirements listed in the Preliminary Product Requirements section of this RFI. 3. Rough order of magnitude cost for: (a) design and development, (b) two prototype qualifying units, one for vendor testing, and one for KSC testing, (c) one additional production unit for flight application. 4. Lead times for design and development, prototype/test units, and production/flight units. 5. Description of your companys experience in developing and producing devices of a similar nature, similar to the requirements described in this RFI. Response Instructions The requested responses are for information and planning purposes only. NASA does not intend to post information or questions received to any website or public access location. NASA does not plan to reply to the individual responses, and respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. Respondents deemed fully qualified will be considered in any resultant solicitation for the requirement. Feedback to this RFI may be utilized in formulating the Governments acquisition strategy and documents. All responses should be provided electronically in Microsoft Word document format. Font should be Times New Roman, size 12. Responses should not exceed 15 pages and should reference RFI# NNK15ZOPLR1L. Please submit electronic responses no later than 4:00 PM EDT, April 21, 2015, to the NASA/KSC Procurement Office, e-mail address lynn.e.rafford@nasa.gov. This preliminary information is being made available for planning purposes only, subject to FAR Clause 52.215-3, entitled Solicitation for Information and Planning Purposes. It does not constitute a Request for Proposal, Invitation for Bid, or Request for Quotation, and it is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contract. Moreover, the Government will not pay for the information submitted in response to this RFI, nor will the Government reimburse an Offeror for costs incurred to prepare responses to this RFI. No solicitation exists at this time; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released later this fiscal year as currently planned, it will be synopsized in the FedBizOpps and on the NASA Acquisition Internet Services (NAIS). It is the potential offerors responsibility to monitor these sites for the release of any solicitation or synopsis. NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/pub/p ub_library/Omb.html. Please advise if the requirement is considered to be a commercial or commercial-type product. A commercial item is defined in FAR 2.101. POINT OF CONTACT Lynn Rafford Contracting Officer NASA/KSC Procurement Office 321-867-7364 lynn.e.rafford@nasa.gov
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FBO.gov Permalink
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- Record
- SN03683963-W 20150402/150331234658-db6bebb9ba6d0779367c35862fb570b2 (fbodaily.com)
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