A.02.05 J&A Brand Name Qualitrol REDACT.pdf

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Control Number: 21-0069

SINGLE BRAND DETERMINATION

Far Subpart 13.106-1(b)

1. CONTRACTING AGENCY: US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Walla Walla District, Little Goose Lock and Dam project, 1001 Little Goose Dam Rd, Dayton, WA 99328.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION: A brand name justification is being sought to provide a commercial, off-the-shelf product from a distributer who can supply Qualitrol TM8 Dissolved Gas Analyzers (“DGA”).

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICES/SUPPLIES: Approval is being requested for a new firm-fixed-price brand name purchase order for delivery of 3 Qualitrol TM8 Dissolved Gas Analyzers to include all periphery items for the T2 transformer bank.

4. AUTHORITY CITED:

a. FAR 13.106-1 (b) Soliciting from a single source. (1) For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand name, or industrial mobilization).

b. b. FAR 11.105-(a)(l): the particular brand name, product, or feature is essential to the Governments' requirements, and market research indicates other companies' similar products, or products lacking the particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency's need

5. REASON FOR AUTHORITY CITED:

a. JUSTIFICATION: Little Goose Transformer T2C experienced a failure in 2021.

Although the root cause of the failure has not been identified, it was noted that the existing three single-phase transformers in the T2 transformer bank do not have on-line dissolved gas monitoring systems. An on-line dissolved gas analysis and moisture measurement system provides a means for continuously monitoring the transformer for moisture ingress and incipient fault conditions which generate key dissolved gases. The continuous monitoring for key dissolved gases can directly assist the maintenance staff in determining when an incipient fault has occurred, help diagnose the severity of the fault, and determine the best course of action to avoid either a forced outage or a catastrophic failure. Installation of online, real-time DGAs to monitor dissolved gasses will allow project personnel to catch potentially disastrous gas generation before damage to the transformer occurs. Little Goose Project has used this product in the past and is presently using the product now with

- 2 -other transformers. By maintaining continuity of products with the rest of the districts, transformers we will be replacing similar parts and products which will ultimately be a cost savings to the government.

b. IMPACT: Qualitrol gas analyzers have been determined to be the only solution that will work for the GSU transformer banks.

From lessons learned from other projects in the division that used other brands, HDC recommends we use Qualitrol product going forward. If other analyzers were used, we would have to run additional tests that cost labor and personnel analysis that would cost extra money.

Little Goose currently has Qualitrol in other transformers that has proven to work.

Purchasing a brand other than Qualitrol will increase the complexity of the project, require more training, decrease efficiency of engineers and technicians because of unfamiliarity and there would be a major cost for a new training program to be put in place. Once the Qualitrol is integrated into the GSU transformer, protection scheme, and communicates with the General Data Acquisition and Control System (GDACS) forming a node that is complex. It requires special software to interface with the device and perform programing and maintenance. This software is already used at Little Goose on our station service transformers and is not compatible with software used with other brands. The system product meets the specific technical needs for the T2 transformer.

Market research indicates no other company meets the technical requirements for project use. Other brands that produce a similar dissolved gas analyzer product do not appear to have accurate dissolved gas results compared against the Qualitrol TM8 Dissolved Gas Analyzers. By purchasing this brand, we can reduce costs and the avoidance of a catastrophic failure.

c. ALTERNATIVES: There are alternatives for this product, but they do not meet the standards that HDC and Little Goose Project requires on the transformers. To prevent failure, continual accurate gas sampling of the transformer needs to be done. If another brand of gas analyzers is chosen, the results may not be accurate enough possibly leading to overall failure of the transformer.

6. DETERMINATION OF FAIR AND REASONABLE COSTS: A price analysis will be completed after receipt of quotation on the basis of historical pricing and an IGE.

Competition is expected with market research indicating there are multiple capable businesses who supply gas analyzers. No award will be made unless prices are determined fair and reasonable.

7. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION: It is anticipated that there are multiple distributors of for the TM8 Dissolved Gas Analyzers.

8. MARKET RESEARCH: Market research indicates other companies’ have dissolved gas analyzers, but they do not meet or cannot be modified to meet the agency’s need.

Qualitrol TM8 DGA is essential to the government’s requirements and to our mission.