SOURCES SOUGHT
66 -- One (1) thermogravimetric analyzer-mass spectrometer (TGA-MS) - Sources Sought Documentation
- Notice Date
- 8/16/2017
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 334516
— Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, Army Contracting Command, ACC - APG (W911QX) Adelphi, 2800 POWDER MILL RD, ADELPHI, Maryland, 20783-1197, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20783-1197
- Solicitation Number
- PANAPG-17-P-0000112643
- Archive Date
- 9/7/2017
- Point of Contact
- Jamie N White, Phone: 3013941615
- E-Mail Address
-
jamie.n.white2.civ@mail.mil
(jamie.n.white2.civ@mail.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Salient Characteristics Doc Sources Sought Synopsis The Government requires one (1) thermogravimetric analyzer-mass spectrometer (TGA-MS) that must satisfy the following salient characteristics in order to meet the Government's requirements: •Infrared (IR) heated furnace design •Heating range ambient to greater than 1195ºC at 0.1 to greater than 495ºC/minute •Temperature accuracy +/-1°C •Accurate weight measurements to +/- 0.1 microgram (ug) with low baseline drift (< 10ug) •Mass Range of 0.1 gram (g) •Robust and reusable vertical hanging pan design composed of ceramic; a material with the capacity to tolerate high temperatures greater than 1195°C. •The TGA and MS should be compatible and interface with each other through a heated transfer line and Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA) adapter. •The TGA-MS heated transfer line should be less than three (3) inches in size with a flow volume in order to prevent condensation of generated sample. •The Residual Gas Analyzer/Mass Spectrometer (MS) should be capable of continuous gas analysis from the off gasses of the TGA stream. •The flow volume through the furnace should be less than 100 milliliter (ml) to concentrate the off gases and to improve sensitivity for the mass spectrometer. •The MS should be a quadrupole mass spectrometer capable of analyzing a range of 1-300 atomic mass unit (amu). •The TGA-MS should be designed to minimize the amount of volume seen by the evolving gas from the sample. •The MS scans should be capable of being triggered from the TGA software. •The TGA-MS should be less than 8' long x 3' high x 3' deep. •The furnace of a TGA is the most-stressed component of the instrument, as it is routinely heating to very high temperatures (~900-1000°Celsius (°C)) followed by rapid (100°C/min) cooling to 25°C. Conventional technology employs wire-wound, resistively-heated furnaces which are prone to fatigue and failure and which require re calibration of the sample temperature each time a hangdown wire or cradle is replaced. This recalibration is required due to several characteristics of the furnace, mainly its overall small size, uneven temperature profile inside the furnace, and tendency to age in its power consumption. Replacement of these furnace components is expensive and time consuming resulting in significant down time for the instrument. Alternate furnace designs which employ more robust technology are sought to reduce these failures and fatigue and provide for faster repair. IR heated furnace designs which employ halogen lamps are cheaper to fix as the lamps are available at 2 for $10 at hardware stores while a Platinum furnace can cost upwards of $3000. IR furnace designs are an example of a more robust design since it is repairable by the operator. •The Mass Spectrometer (MS) must interface with the TGA through a heated transfer line and Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA) Adapter. This transfer line carries the evolved gases, generated from the sample, to the MS detector without condensation. The connection of this heated capillary transfer line must be interfaced with the TGA through an EGA adapter such that there are no cold spots along the evolved gas path. This requirement provides for higher sensitivity and less off-gas condensation which would require disassembly and cleaning of the instrument. In addition, the gas flow path from the sample to the heated transfer line inlet should be less than three (3) inches to reduce any losses of the decomposition products through subsequent reaction or interaction with the hot surfaces of the TGA. The flow volume through the furnace should be less than 100 milliliter (ml) to concentrate the off gases and to improve sensitivity for the mass spectrometer. •The instrument should allow for automatic, unattended calibration of both temperature (using curie-point standards) and mass. This increases the time available for sample analysis and shortens the amount of time between calibrations to a sufficient level such that the instrument is functioning to specifications between calibrations. Temperature calibration is currently done once or twice a year and requires a full day or two to complete. Mass calibration on the current TGA system is never done. •The TGA should be able to perform modulated temperature thermogravimetric analysis TGA, which allows for the direct calculation of decomposition kinetics parameters (energy of activation, rate constant, and pre-exponential factor) from a single experiment. This technique provides information regarding the thermal stability and estimated lifetime of a material. These measurements can be used to predict the stability of battery, fuel cell, and catalyst materials outside of their normal operating environment and is one more tool to characterize and improve on existing materials. CLIN 0002 The Contractor shall provide one (1) differential scanning calorimeter with liquid N2 attachment (DSC-LN2) that must satisfy the following salient characteristics in order to meet the Government's requirements: This instrument is a general use instrument that is accessible to everyone needing a DSC or low temperature DSC with proper training. The requirements are: •Modulated DSC operation for maximum separation of thermal events. •Air cooling system through fins which is capable of achieving operating temperatures from ambient to greater than 720ºC and down to less than -175ºC with liquid nitrogen cooling. •Must include a robust sample pan composed of materials capable of tolerating a temperature range from less than -175°C to greater than 720°C. •Capable of efficient liquid nitrogen usage using a recirculating system for extended operations (up to several day). •Highly precise and accurate measurements of thermal transitions in electrolytes, polymers, cathode and anode materials, as well as catalysts with low baseline corrections. •Low consumption of liquid nitrogen for cooling of samples to -100°C to allow for extended run times or multiple scans on a single tank of liquid N2. •Employs a heat-flow equation with four terms. The purpose of the four-term heat flow equation is to measure and compensate for various factors within the heat-flow measurement, which provides for superior instrument performance. •Within the four-term heat flow equation, the following are directly measured and incorporated: •Measured Heat Flow •Thermal Resistance Imbalance •Thermal Capacitance Imbalance •Heating Rate Imbalance •Must include a sample-pan contact resistance measurement, which dramatically improves signal resolution. •Must be capable of measuring heat capacity directly, from one experimental run, through the incorporation of the aforementioned equations.
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- SN04633179-W 20170818/170816233446-6011359fdf27465b32e9b397bcfebe40 (fbodaily.com)
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