SOURCES SOUGHT
36 -- TRASH PROCESSING SYSTEM-HEAT MELT COMPACTOR
- Notice Date
- 12/21/2015
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 333994
— Industrial Process Furnace and Oven Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- NASA/Ames Research Center, JA:M/S 241-1, Moffett Field, CA 94035-0001
- ZIP Code
- 94035-0001
- Solicitation Number
- NNA16ZSC001L
- Response Due
- 1/29/2016
- Archive Date
- 12/21/2016
- Point of Contact
- Elizabeth A Baierl, Contracting Officer, Phone 650-604-5082, Fax 650-604-0932, Email Elizabeth.A.Baierl@nasa.gov
- E-Mail Address
-
Elizabeth A Baierl
(Elizabeth.A.Baierl@nasa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- NASA Ames Research Center is hereby soliciting information about potential sources for (A) a Heat Melt Compactor (HMC) Trash Processing System and/or (B) an alternative trash processing system that meets the same requirements as for the HMC. NASA seeks information on a low cost, low mass, and low volume HMC or alternative trash processing system that can be incorporated into future long duration missions with different planetary destinations and spacecraft configurations. Also desired is information from potential sources that includes a development and project roadmap leading to a flight test of this technology on International Space Station (ISS), by mid calendar year 2019. All entities are invited to respond with capability statements, including Small, Small Disadvantaged (SDB), 8(a), Woman-owned (WOSB), Veteran Owned (VOSB), Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SD-VOSB), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) businesses, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority Institutions (MI) for the purposes of determining the appropriate level of competition and/or small business subcontracting goals for Heat Melt Compactor (HMC), or alternative trash processing system. The Government reserves the right to consider a Small, 8(a), Woman-owned (WOSB), Service Disabled Veteran (SD-VOSB), or HUBZone business set-aside based on responses hereto. Pursuant to FAR 52.215-3, entitled Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes, this information is being made available for market research, information, and planning purposes and to allow industry the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirement, as well as promote competition. This RFI is subject to review or cancellation at any time and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contract. The Government will not pay for the information submitted in response to this request and respondents will not be notified of the results. BACKGROUND: The current space mission approach to trash management is to hand compact the trash, temporarily store the trash, and dispose of the trash by either return to Earth, or by reentry incineration of the trash in a disposable supply delivery vehicle, such as the Russian Progress vehicle. For long duration missions away from low earth orbit, processing the waste is preferable to overboard disposal. Trash can be hazardous when stored inside a space craft and accumulating trash consumes valuable habitat volume. NASA believes that processing the trash reduces the hazards and problems of trash, and produces valuable mission resources. Water can be recovered from the trash (the trash is about 20%-30% water) for recycle, and clean compacted trash can be used for augmentation of radiation shielding. Heat melt compaction is a technology that has been explored by NASA for over 10 years as a method for trash processing.A Heat Melt Compactor (HMC) compresses the trash by up to 10 times a density obtained by hand compaction. The HMC melts the plastic in the trash (at temperature above at least 130C), and upon cooling this tends to encapsulate the trash and prevent volume springback. The temperature of plastic melting is also sufficient to drive off the water in the trash; the water can then be collected for recycle. If sufficient water is driven off of the trash to dry it a 0.6 water activity, then the processed trash will not support microbial growth unless rewetted. Time and elevated temperatures also sterilize the trash, making the compressed tiles more stable for long terms storage, or for use as radiation shielding. Prior to responding to the RFI, NASA encourages each respondent to thoroughly review Attachment 1, HMC Requirements, for detailed specification. Details on the development of an HMC by NASA and others are contained in the publications listed in Attachment 2. Attachment 3 is a representative listing of components and quantities in space mission trash. NASA anticipates that the HMC will be able to process all of the life support related trash developed on a space mission for a crew of 4. The processing will reduce the volume of the trash by about a factor of 5 to 7 and produce compacted tiles with a density of at least 620 gm/liter. The tiles must be sterile and dry (water activity less than 0.6). Tiles must be 9 inch squares with thickness 0.5 to 6 inches. Provision must be made for microgravity collection of the condensed water that was in the tile for recycle to the life support Water Recovery System (WRS). Gaseous contaminants produced by the processing must not be released to the habitat in quantities and concentrations that would exceed the Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations limits. The ISS test of HMC must be low mass, low volume, and low power. The flight test unit must be capable of being tested in an ISS Express Rack utilizing no more than 3 Express Rack lockers (a space of approximately 20x20x30). Interested parties having the required specialized capabilities to meet the requirements described herein are invited to submit a capability statement via email in documents that are compatible with and accessible using Microsoft Office or Adobe Acrobat software applications. Responses should include the following: name and address of firm, size of business; DUNS number (if available); whether they are large, or any category of small business, number of years in business; affiliate information: parent company, joint venture partners, potential teaming partners; list of customers covering the past five years (highlight relevant work performed). Files should not be greater than 10 pages (no less than 10 point font except in figure captions). Due to mailbox limitations, email attachments should not exceed 10 MB file size. Proprietary information should be clearly marked as such. The information provided in your responses to this RFI may or may not lead to a posting of a solicitation. Respondents will not receive feedback on the information obtained through this RFI process. The following specific information is requested from respondents to this RFI: 1. General Description:. Describe the capability of the HMC or other technology your firm has developed, or intends to develop, pursuant to the requirements and guidelines in Attachment 1; specifically noting any areas of noncompliance and recommendations to mitigate or correct the noncompliance; including changes to the requirements themselves. 2. Flight or Technology Heritage/Qualification 2.a. Describe your entitys relevant experience with fabrication capabilities; especially experience with space flight qualified hardware. 2.b. Describe the extent to which existing proven commercial technology can be leveraged to minimize technical and schedule risk while meeting listed requirements. 2.c. Describe any new technologies to be employed on this effort, and any modifications to existing technology necessary to meet the requirements. Describe risks associated with incorporating the new or modified technology and how the risks can be minimized. 3. Test and Inspection Program 3.a. Provide test program(s) or other documentation to demonstrate that the HMC or other technology will meet the requirements provided in Attachment 1. 3.b. For completed field testing, describe the conditions of the test, the test objectives, limitations, and results. 3.c. Provide a relevant example of existing fabrication, inspection and test, and acceptance plans to control this type of work. 3.d. Describe whether the HMC or other technology is qualified for flight, and if so, describe the qualification program including environments used. 4. Costs 4.a. Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost for the HMC or other technology that meets the requirements listed in Attachment 1. 4.b. NASA seeks ROM costs to deliver flight devices. 4.c. If the technology is commercially available, please provide an Off-the-Shelf procurement estimate for your device. 4.d. If new technologies or modifications are required to meet specifications, provide a ROM cost for the associated development plan. 5. Delivery 5.a. Provide an estimated delivery timeframe. 5.b. Address major risks to meeting the delivery and risk mitigation plan. Please advise if the requirement is considered to be a commercial or commercial-type product. A commercial item is defined in FAR 2.101. All responses shall be submitted to Elizabeth Baierl, email elizabeth.a.baierl@nasa.gov no later than 4pm PST. Please reference NNA16ZSC001L in any response. This announcement does not constitute a Request for Proposal. Please do not request for a copy of the solicitation, as no solicitation exists at this time. If a firm requirement is developed and a solicitation is issued, the solicitation will be made available on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website (www.fbo.gov). It is the potential offerors responsibility to monitor the site 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. Information about major upcoming ARC procurement actions (forecast) is available at http://ec.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eis/admin/admin.cgi?center=ARC The Internet site, or URL, for the NASA/ARC Business Opportunities page is http://server-mpo.arc.nasa.g ov/Services/Proc/home.tml Any referenced numbered notes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below. An ombudsman has been appointed -- See NASA Specific Note "B".
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