MODIFICATION
66 -- High-Access Cryostat
- Notice Date
- 4/8/2003
- Notice Type
- Modification
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Mountain Administrative Support Center, 325 Broadway - MC3, Boulder, CO, 80305-3328
- ZIP Code
- 80305-3328
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-NB814000304058MAS
- Response Due
- 4/30/2003
- Archive Date
- 5/15/2003
- Point of Contact
- Michelle Sandoval, Purchasing Agent, Phone (303) 497-3983, Fax (303) 497-3163,
- E-Mail Address
-
michelle.sandoval@noaa.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- AMENDED NOTICE. The U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) has a requirement for a custom cryostat to be manufactured that will be able to reach temperatures of below 10mK and allow many, of order 300 to 2000, electrical wires to be connected to an experiment. In order to meet these requirements, the cryostat is of a custom design and has to be manufactured identically to the design given by our specifications and must be completely manufactured by July 31, 2003. The dilution refrigerator unit is being procured separately and will be installed and tested by NIST. The specifications are for the main cryostat and its interior vacuum connections to the dilution refrigerator. The main cryostat with the liquid nitrogen and liquid helium tanks, as well as their supports and radiation shields, will be built. This cryostat will then be transported to the NIST Boulder site to be tested for cryogen consumption rates. These rates will be measured both before and after the main vacuum container is gold plated. Specifications are as follows: 1) Components: Support structure. A triangular support structure, fabricated from 2x10 lumber and plywood, is to be constructed following a CAD design file. The lumber shall be connected via metal flanges and bolt fasteners. The approximate length of each spoke of the triangle is 63 inches. 2) Top plate. The 300K flange at the top of the cryostat shall be fabricated from stainless steel (SS), with dimensions of a thickness 7/8" and diameter 27". Access holes for two cryogen fill ports and 12 feed-through ports shall be included. 3) Vacuum vessel. A SS vacuum-can shall be constructed that connects to the bottom of the top plate. The vessel shall be 45" high by 21" in diameter, with approximately 1/8" wall thickness. The vessel shall be split into two pieces, with appropriate o-ring grooves and surfaces. Vacuum connections with KF-40 and KF-25 flanges shall be installed on the upper vessel section. Lift rings shall be attached to the low piece. The design of the lower section shall be chosen to minimize its weight. Gold plating to the inside surface of these vessels shall be applied to reduce the infrared emissivity of the surfaces so as to reduce the heat load to the 77K stage. NIST will purchase the vacuum and relief valve for the two KF flanges. 4) 77K cryogen tank. A liquid nitrogen tank shall be constructed with size 13" diameter and 5" long. This tank and its fill port shall be constructed entirely with SS and SS weld joints. The bottom flange will provide a thermal connection to the cryogen, and will be constructed from a bi-metal plate of copper and stainless steel. Approximately 75 tapped connection holes will be connected to this surface. The fill port will contain a seamless bellows section that will allow for small movements from thermal contraction. The fill tube inner diameter shall be ?", and the outer diameter will be 1 ?". This tank shall have a 2 3/8" diameter tube welded at its centerline to accommodate the helium tank fill tube. 5) 4K cryogen tank. A liquid helium tank shall be constructed similar to the liquid nitrogen tank, but with a length of 10". Two additional copper heat sink connections shall be made to the fill port, with flanges available for thermal connections. An additional siphon flange with an indium o-ring seal shall be added to the bottom of the tank. An internal gusset support shall be installed at the upper part of this tank. 6) Thermal supports. A thermally isolated support structure shall be installed between 300K and 77K, as well as 77K and 4K. These supports will be made from 3 rods/sheets of G-10 material. An additional support structure made out of metal shall be included that acts as additional mechanical support during transportation of the cryostat, and will also be used for alignment of the two cryogenic vessels to each other and the top plate. The system will be design such that the supports are machined after the construction of the vacuum vessel so that precise alignment of all of the various stages occur automatically upon assembly, and that replacement of any of the part of the system will not require custom alignment. 7) Tank flanges. Aluminum rings, ?" thick and made from 6063 or 1100 Al, will connect the bottom of the two tanks and support the radiation shields. These flanges will have 12 ports for electrical wiring access. The holes connecting to the radiation shield flanges shall have phosphor bronze helicoils installed. Blank-off flanges that cover the 12 ports shall be made for the two flanges. These flanges, as well as their mating shield parts, shall have a double lipped structure to minimize the amount of infrared radiation leakage through the seals. 8) Infrared Shields. Aluminum shields shall be attached to the two flanges at 77K and 4K to act as an infrared radiation shields. Each shield shall have an attachment flange made from 6063 or 1100 Al with appropriate attachment holes. The sides of the Al cans shall be made from 0.080-thick rolled Al sheet. These shields shall be manufactured so that there is no appreciable warpage after the assembly process so that the shields do not have to be custom fit to the Al tank flanges. Because these shields might occasionally be damaged, it is important that these flanges can be manufactured to tight enough tolerances to not necessitate custom fitting. The 77K shield will be constructed in two parts, with a cylindrical upper section that has two attachment flanges. The surface of the shields shall be manufactured to have a reflective surface (similar, for example, to aluminum foil) so as to reduce the emissivity of the surface. 9) Stress Modeling. Finite element analysis shall be performed for the top flange and vacuum vessel to insure that the parts do not deform significantly or collapse upon evacuation of the vessel. Gussets and or strength bands around the vessel shall be designed and installed as needed. 10) Conductive o-rings. All o-rings at the external surface shall use a conductive o-ring material to enable the vessel to act as an electrical shield around the experimental section. 11) Documentation. Documentation of the fabrication and assembly of the instrument shall be included. Machine-shop drawings of the various pieces will be used to document the instrument as well check its design by NIST staff before construction. A list of the suppliers and any specialty machine shops that are used for the fabrication of parts shall be supplied. Assembly or welding instructions shall be provided, as appropriate. EVALUATION CRITERIA: Both price and technical content will be used to evaluate the proposals. Because of the critical nature of this piece of equipment to the success of the quantum computing effort, technical merit will be weighted more heavily in the final decision, with price assuming increased importance in the differentiation between closely ranked technical proposals. Technical merit will be evaluated by a team of three NIST scientists based on the following 3 criteria, each weighted by 33.3%: 1) Ability of manufacturer to construct scientific instruments. Performance will be evaluated on past experience with constructing scientific instruments, especially those involving cryogenic design and fabrication methods, electromagnetic shielding, and low vibrational noise. 2) Construction techniques and ability. Performance will be evaluated on construction techniques of the various components, judged by manufacturing techniques and the ability of the processes to hold mechanical tolerances for interchangeable components, produce reliable weld joints, and give low infrared-radiation emissivity surfaces. 3) Ability of manufacturer to communicate and collaborate with NIST. Performance will be evaluated base on the ability of the manufacturer to communicate easily and often with NIST in order to assure proper final design and manufacturing, and to ensure that all components fit together as a cryostat system and be compatible with the dilution refrigerator unit. Since testing is required at the NIST facility to ensure compatibility with other electronic and vacuum systems, easy transportation of the instrument to and from NIST is desirable. This procurement is being conducted per FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures (NTE $100K). This requirement is set-aside for small business unless small business cannot meet the Governments need at a reasonable cost. Technical merit, as well as price, will be considered in selecting a vendor. Technical questions must be submitted in writing to the Contracting Officer by fax or by email. You may submit your proposal by fax or by mail. Proposal must be received on or before close of business April 30, 2003. Please include delivery date, F.O.B. point, business size, Federal Taxpayer Identification Number, and Dun and Bradstreet Number. Terms and Conditions and agency level protest procedures can be fond on web site http://oamweb.osec.doc.gov/CONOPS/#REFERENCE. Hard copy in full text available from office address and phone number listed in notice. Anticipated award date May 1, 2003.
- Place of Performance
- Address: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado
- Zip Code: 80305
- Country: USA
- Zip Code: 80305
- Record
- SN00298460-W 20030410/030408213446 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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