DRAFT Statement of Work.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK

Title: Liquid Nitrogen Supplies & Services Agency: National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST)

BACKGROUND

This acquisition is for the on-demand supply, delivery, and filling services for liquid nitrogen to multiple programs across three (3) NIST campuses/sites: Gaithersburg, MD; Boulder, CO; and Charleston, SC. The requirements for this acquisition also include tank rental, telemetry unit rental, vaporizer rental, and annual tank inspections.

For this acquisition, the contractor will be required to procure liquid nitrogen (specific to each campus/site), deliver the liquid nitrogen to the appropriate campus/site, fill both rented and NIST-owned tanks per the required percentage level for each tank, provide rented tanks and vaporizer provide maintenance and repair services for rented tanks, provide rented telemetry units which the Government will have access to the tank readings from, conduct inspections, and removal of tanks. The Contractor is also responsible for the maintenance and repair of rented tanks and annual inspection of NIST owned tanks to ensure the tanks remain in working order throughout the life of the contract.

SCOPE

The Contractor shall procure, deliver, and provide liquid nitrogen, provide rented tanks and vaporizer, provide maintenance and repair for rented tanks, provide telemetry rental units which provide the Government access to the readings, conduct inspections, and tank removal to three (3) NIST campuses in accordance with the requirements in this document.

SPECIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS

1. EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS (including tank removal) A. Maintenance of Rented Tanks:

The Contractor shall be responsible to maintain all rented tanks to ensure tanks operate and function to manufacturer’s specifications. In the event of a failure, the Contractor shall be responsible to replace the rented tank immediately to ensure continuity of service. Repair/replacement of tanks must be completed at no cost to the Government.

NOTE: This contract does not include maintenance, repair, or replacement of NIST-owned tanks.

B. Tank Inspection: Anticipated Inspection period in January and will be performed under the scope of this contract.

1. The Contractor shall provide an annual inspection to the extent annual inspections fall within the period of performance of this contract. The Contractor shall inspect all tanks covered under this contract - NIST-owned and Contractor-owned. The Contractor shall inspect the liquid nitrogen tanks using American Petroleum Institute (API) Standard 653, (“Tank Inspection, Repair, Alteration, and Reconstruction”). The Government anticipates the inspections to be performed in January 2026.

2. Inspectors must be authorized by the original equipment manufacturer, and/or the Contractor as qualified to perform the inspection. Only authorized inspectors may perform the inspection. To the maximum extent practicable, inspections shall take place during a single visit to NIST Gaithersburg, a single visit to NIST Charleston, and a single visit to NIST Boulder with anticipated completion in January every year. Inspection visits must be scheduled, in advance, with the Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) identified for each site, to ensure that all security requirements are met, and inspectors can be escorted to each tank site.

3. The tank inspections shall include replacement of pressure relief safeties one time every four years or based on Relief valves condition.

4. An inspection report and report of findings for each tank shall be delivered to the Contracting Officer, Contract Specialist, Technical Point of contact (TPOC) or applicable Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for each site, not later than 15 days after the inspections are completed. The replacement of the pressure relief safety must be included in the annual inspection report in the year the pressure relief safety is replaced.

C. Telemetry Units

1. All telemetry units shall be rented from the Contractor throughout the period of performance. The Contractor shall be responsible to maintain all telemetry units in working order and to manufacturer’s specifications throughout the period of performance. Repair, replacement, periodic calibration, and other appropriate preventative maintenance shall be provided by the Contractor at no additional cost to the Government throughout the period of performance.

2. The Contractor shall be responsible to monitor all telemetry units to ensure that fills are completed in a manner that will successfully maintain each site in accordance with requirements identified in this document.

3. The Contractor must ensure that telemetry unit readings are available to NIST through a Contractor provided, password protected website. Telemetry unit readings must be available for reference by NIST. The Contractor shall provide passwords to all CORs not later than 15 days after the telemetry unit installations have been completed.

D. Tank Removal

1. The Contractor shall be responsible for all labor, equipment, supplies, and services, including transportation services, necessary for removal of rented tanks at any time during the period of performance and/or at the close of the contract. It is anticipated that tank removal shall be completed in one day. All tank removal work required shall be authorized via notification from the Contracting Officer, must be coordinated with the COR, and be completed during normal business hours.

2. The following process shall be followed upon approval by the Contracting Officer of tank removal:

A. If not already included in the start of contract approved job-specific safety and health plan, the contractor must submit supplemental information specific to tank removal and this must be approved by the COSR prior to execution of tank removal.

B. The Contractor shall clear the tank site of any debris.

C. NIST shall be responsible to cap the pipe.

2. TANK LOCATIONS & SPECIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Percentage Definitions for the tables provided in this section. Not all tanks will have an assigned minimum, reorder, or full percentage (see table below).

1. Minimum Percentage (%) - The level below which the tank must not be allowed to fall. If the tank reaches the minimum % level, the Contractor is required to fill the tank within 12 hours. This is considered a rare event and is the responsibility of the Contractor to prevent.

2. Reorder Percentage (%) - This is a level above the minimum % that signals the Contractor to schedule a regular delivery. Regular deliveries are required within 24 hours of the tank falling to this level. The amount between the reorder % and minimum % is NIST's buffer so that expected operations do not fall below the minimum % before delivery is made.

3. Full Percentage (%) - The minimum acceptable level after a delivery has occurred. If the contractor does not meet the full % after a delivery has been completed, then the Contractor shall notify the COR for the site not within one (1) hour.

NIST Gaithersburg, MD Campus 100 Bureau Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20899 Contracting Officer’s Representative: Krishna Krishnamoorthy

ESTIMATED USAGE TABLE

GAITHERSBURG, MD CAMPUS

Center for Nanoscale Science & Technology (CNST, 680.10)

Building 215

Location: Located outside Building 215, adjacent to the loading dock. A delivery truck (liquid trailer) parked at the loading dock can easily access the fill port and will find no obstacles in the way of filling the tank.

11,000 gallons NIST Owned Qty: 1

3,000 gallons; NIST Owned Qty: 1 620,000 gallons

Minimum % = 30% Reorder % = 60% Full % = 90%

The 11,000-gallon tank pressure must be maintained between 140 PSI and 160 PSI during each fill.

The 3,000-gallon tank pressure must be maintained between 30 PSI and 40 PSI during each fill.

A phase separator connected to the 3,000 tank has an over-pressure device that ruptures at 50 PSI.

Two (2) (one per tank)

Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML, 684)

N2 Gas Utility System

Building:221

Location: Located at Building 221 in the loading dock area.

TANK:

1,500 gallons Rented Qty: 1

VAPORIZER:

(5200 standard cubic feet per hour or greater) Rented Qty: 1 40,000 gallons

Minimum % = 20% Reorder % = 40% Full % = 80%

100 PSI must be maintained during each fill for tank One (1)

Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML 683)

Building: 225

Location:

Located to the right of the loading dock in a block-wall room enclosure.

3,000 gallons Rented Qty: 1

VAPORIZER 10,000 Standard Cubic Feet Rented

20,000 gallons

Minimum % = 30% Reorder % = 50% Full % = 80%

100 PSI must be maintained during each fill for tank.

One (1)

Material Measurement Laboratory (MML, 645 & 646)

Building: 227

Location:

Located next to the building 227 loading dock.

1500 gallon Owned

80,000

Minimum % = 20% Reorder % = 40% Full % = 90%

To fill the tank, the truck must back up down a curving slope to the tank. There is not room to turn a truck around near the tank.

The Contractor shall purge all lines prior to hooking up to NIST’s liquid nitrogen tank.

100 PSI must be maintained during each fill.

One (1)

Material Measurement Laboratory (MML, 640)

Building: 203

Location:

Located outside of Building 203, adjacent to the loading dock.

1,500 gallons

12,000 gallons

Minimum %= 15% Reorder %= 30% Full % = 90%

Delivery truck (liquid trailer), parked at the loading dock can easily access the fill port. There are no obstacles.

One (1)

Office of Facilities & Property Management (OFPM,193)

Building: 301 Location:

Upright tank located next to the receiving dock 6,000 gallons Rented

115,000 gallons

Minimum % = 16% Reorder % = 27% Full % = 100%

70-100 PSI must be maintained during each fill.

The tank must include a pipe header to connect to the eight (8) individual filling stations each with it’s own shut-off valve.

There are no obstacles to reach the tank One (1)

NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR)

Building 235

Location:

The two 6000 and one 3000-gallon tanks are located on the south side of building 235

The 1500-gallon tank is located on the north side of Building 235 Guide Halls. There are no obstacles in the way of filling the tanks

6000 gallons

Qty: 2

3000 gallons Owned Qty: 1

1500 gallons

190,000 gallons

6000 Gallon Tank % Minimum % = 20% Reorder % = 50% Full % = 100%

3000 Gallon Tank % Minimum %= 20% Reorder %: 50% Full %: 100%

1500 Gallon Tank % Minimum %= 20% Reorder %: 50% Full %: 100%

One 6000-gallon tank is set for a pressure range of 25 to 30 psi using a pressure limit switch. The other 6,000-gallon tank is set for a pressure range of 25 to 35 psi using a back pressure regulator. The 3000-gallon tank is set for 25 psi using a pressure limit switch.

Four (4)

NOTES

CNST, Building 215 Facility Notes:

Note 1: The Center for Nanoscale Science & Technology (CNST) supports two NIST-owned LN2 tanks located at the building 215 loading dock. There is a quantity of one (1) 3,000-gallon tank and a quantity of one (1) 11,000-gallon tank. The tanks are used to supply gaseous and liquid nitrogen for nanofabrication processing and nanofabrication equipment operational and safety support.

Note 2: The minimum required fill level shall be 90% for both tanks. When a tank is filled, it must be filled to at least 90% full. If the Contractor cannot fill to 90% full, the Contractor shall notify the building 215 point of contact not later than four hours after the fill.

PML, Building 221 N2 Gas Utility System Facility Notes Note 1: This system shall provide 5N gaseous nitrogen throughout the building for various uses by researchers in the laboratories.

Note 2: The existing nitrogen gas vaporizer has the following specifications:

a. 5200 standard cubic feet per hour of nitrogen gas continuously for eight hours between defrosts at 50 degrees F (Fahrenheit) ambient temp or less, relative humidity of 50% or more with a 20-degree F or more approach temp. Preferred 10,000 standard cubic feet per hour.

b. Rated to 15,000 psig, or greater, before catastrophic failure.

c. Rated for 150 mph wind loads or greater.

d. Nitrogen gas at 125 psig nominal delivery pressure, not to fall below 100 psi and not to exceed 150 psi.

e. Equipped with adequate over-pressure reliefs and safeguards to ensure no more than 150 psi is delivered to the service connection.

f. Any additional/updated safeguards required to reduce risk to personnel or equipment consistent with industry standards shall be provided by the Contractor as part of the rented equipment.

PML, Building 225 Facility Notes:

Note 1: Tank is used to provide 5N gaseous nitrogen throughout the building for various uses by researchers in the laboratories.

MML Building 227 Facility Notes:

Note 1: The liquid nitrogen is delivered to the 227 tank, and from there it is converted into gas and delivered throughout the building for use in the laboratory. Therefore, there are a variety of uses for it, mainly as a feed gas to analytical instruments. The Analytical Chemistry Division and the Biotechnology Division use it as a source of pure nitrogen, not a cooling source.

MML, Building 203 Facility Notes:

Note 1: The 1500-gallon LN2 storage tank is used in operating the liquid nitrogen freezers for the tissue specimen bank.

Note 2: Note 2: Delivery suspension is necessary from time to time for performing maintenance work and instrument development. During these periods, which may last a few weeks, the Contractor shall be informed, at least 15 days in advance, when to stop delivery and, at least 15 days in advance, when to resume delivery of liquid nitrogen.

OFPM, Building 301 Facility Notes:

Note 1: The building 301 tank supplies liquid nitrogen for the entire NIST facility Note 2: The tank shall be rented from the contractor.

NCNR, Building 235 Facility Notes:

Note 1: Two 6000-gallon liquid nitrogen (LN2) storage tanks are used for the Cold Source Refrigeration System (Critical). The 3000 gallon and the 1500-gallon LN2 storage tanks are used for filling liquid nitrogen Dewars that are movable, miniature storage vessels that allow the LN2 to be transferred and administered throughout Building 235.

Note 2: The secondary use for the 3000-gallon storage tank is a backup for the 1500-gallon tank, should any maintenance be required to the tank or if extra LN2 is required.

NIST, Boulder, CO Campus 325 Broadway Boulder, CO 80305 Contracting Officer’s Representative: Krishna Krishnamoorthy

ESTIMATED USAGE TABLE

BOULDER, CO CAMPUS

Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML, 680)

Building:81

Location:

Located at the loading dock of Building 81.

6,000 gallons (bulk tank)

Year:

410,000 gallons

Minimum %= 20%

Full % = 90%

110 PSI must be maintained during each fill of the 6,000-gallon tank.

One (1)

Building 81 Facility Notes:

Note 1: The liquid nitrogen bulk tank provides liquid and gaseous nitrogen for a variety of needs on the Boulder site including the Boulder Micro-Fabrication Facility, the Boulder Molecular-Beam Epitaxy (MBE), the building 81 helium liquefaction infrastructure, various fill stations, and building 81 Service Galley 15. The tank also has the possibility of being used in the laboratory spaces in Building 81 and Building 2 in the future.

NIST, Charleston, SC Campus 331 Ft. Johnson Road Charleston, SC 29412 Alternate Contracting Officer’s Representative: Dan Dender

ESTIMATED USAGE TABLE

CHARLESTON, SC CAMPUS

NIST

Biorepository

(BIO, 646)

Located at the back of the building at the Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML)

3,000 gallons

105,000 gallons

Minimum % = 25% Reorder % = 35% Full % = 90%

The tank must be filled when the tank is low. The Contractor shall monitor the tank through the telemetry system and fill the tank when it becomes low. “Low” is defined as between 1,000 and 2,000 gallons remaining in the tank (when the gauge reads 35).

25 PSI must be maintained during each fill. To prevent over-pressurization (above 25 PSI), a secondary safety valve is currently installed on the tank. This tank should not be filled to trycock.

An Emergency Stop (E-Stop) device has been installed that will stop the flow at the tank when pressure reaches above 31 PSI.

One (1)

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility (NMR, 646)

Location:

Tank is located in the back of the building, in the NMR physical plant cage 3,000 gallons Owned

Tank Owned By National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA Hollings Marine Laboratory)

55,000 gallons

Minimum % = 20%

Full % = 90%

The Contractor shall monitor the tank through the telemetry system and fill the tank when it becomes low. For this location, “low” is defined as 1,000 gallons remaining in the tank. NIST does not require the Contractor to make contact prior to coming on-site to fill the tank.

This is a high-pressure tank, and the Contractor must maintain the approximately 180 PSI pressure during each fill.

One (1)

NIST Biorepository Notes:

Note 1: The liquid nitrogen bulk tank provides liquid nitrogen to 28 large liquid nitrogen vapor phase freezers and back-up systems to ten -80º C upright freezers. Thousands of long-term (30+ years) samples are stored in these freezers.

Note 2: There is another LN2 bulk tank in front of this bulk tank, but the fill line has been extended to avoid fill problems.

Note 3: There are other LN2 tanks in the general area. One is located next to the NIST-owned tank as mentioned above. This is owned and operated by NOAA and not a part of this contract.

Note 4: Another NIST-maintained LN2 tank is also located at the back of the building, but it is in the NMR Physical Plant cage and is labeled NMR Laboratory. See details below about this LN2 tank.

Note 5: The Contractor must call the phone number(s) provided on the bulk tank gate to obtain a key to the lock. Several phone numbers are provided to ensure someone is on-site and able to provide a key to the lock. This is to ensure the Contractor is filling the proper tank and to ensure the safety of NIST personnel in case of emergency during the fill (i.e., over-pressurization of the tank).

Note 6: The contractor shall fill the tank any time between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm Eastern Time. There are security gates at the front of the property that do not allow deliveries except between those hours.

NMR Facility Notes:

Note 1: The liquid nitrogen bulk tank provides liquid nitrogen to the Hollings Marine Laboratory Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Facility, as well as nitrogen gas through an evaporator. The supply of liquid and gas is crucial to the continuous operation of this equipment, and loss of nitrogen gas pressure will impair operations immediately.

Note 2: There are two other bulk tanks in the vicinity. These are next to each other in a separate caged area.

Note 3: The Contractor must call the phone number(s) provided on the bulk tank gate to obtain a key to the lock. Several phone numbers are provided to ensure someone is on-site and able to provide a key to the lock.

Note 4: The contractor shall fill the tank any time between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm Eastern Time. There are security gates at the front of the property that do not allow deliveries except between those hours.

A. LIQUID NITROGEN SPECIFICATIONS

1. Gaithersburg, MD

2. Boulder, CO

3. Charleston, SC

A. SUPPLY & INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS

The table below summarizes the requirements at each campus.

Note 1: If the prime contractor switches to a new supply or supplier of liquid nitrogen during the contract, then the prime contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer and each campus COR of the change. The prime contractor shall establish that the new supply or supplier meets the required specifications by submitting a certificate of analysis to the Contracting Officer and COR of each campus.

SUPPORT SERVICES REQUIREMENTS

1. The Contractor must have customer service operators on duty 24/7 (including holidays) to receive & respond to calls within one hour of the call being placed.

2. The Contractor must be able to make deliveries 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, including holidays, and have a large enough fleet of trucks to handle this demand. If a truck breaks down that is assigned to this delivery, the company must have other trucks that can cover the scheduled delivery, without exception.

3. The Contractor shall provide knowledgeable customer service representatives to assist NIST in-person, over the phone, and/or through email to provide assistance/guidance/troubleshooting/resolution, at a minimum for the following:

1. Technical questions,

2. Understand and troubleshoot technical issues

3. Provide support for and resolutions to diverse technical issues

4. Answer and provide support for administrative questions,

5. Understand and troubleshoot diverse technical, administrative and delivery issues, and problems that may arise either in person, via telephone, or via e-mail on an as-needed basis.

DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS

1. The Contractor is responsible to ensure all tanks identified in this contract never run out of liquid nitrogen supply under any situation.

2. NIST reserves the right to request a fill given the threat of inclement weather or another emergency. If a fill is requested, the Contractor must be on-site at the NIST facility within six hours, or another timeline agreed upon between NIST and the Contractor.

3. In the event of inclement weather or a threat of inclement weather, the Contractor shall, to the maximum extent practicable, plan to deliver to the NIST site prior to the predicted weather threat.

4. During closures or emergencies, the COR will arrange with the NIST Police to grant the Contractor access to the site to ensure tanks do not run out of nitrogen. The Contractor must contact the COR for the appropriate site, in advance of delivering, to confirm that access will be granted. Delivery drivers must fill tanks in accordance with the specific requirements identified herein. It is required that drivers carefully clear ice build-up that may occur around non-jacketed piping and valving at the appropriate point during the fill process.

5. Delivery drivers must fill tanks in accordance with the specific requirements identified herein. It is required that drivers carefully clear ice build-up that may occur around non-jacketed piping and valving at the appropriate point during the fill process.

6. Delivery Confirmation:

1. The Contractor shall provide a delivery confirmation immediately upon completion of each delivery. Written delivery confirmation is acceptable; however, the Government prefers an email confirmation.

2. The confirmation shall list all the following information, at a minimum:

1. Division number and building number.

2. Date and time of the delivery.

3. Tank identification number or Vessel Name

4. Tank Level in inches prior to and after completion of filling

5. Certificate of Analysis

6. Total number of gallons (SCF) delivered to the tank/Unit of Measure

DELIVERY DRIVER REQUIREMENTS

1. No later than 5 days after award offer, the Contractor shall provide the Contract Specialist with a complete, current list of delivery drivers who are “authorized to deliver” to NIST Gaithersburg, NIST Charleston, and NIST Boulder. If the Contractor is requesting new drivers be authorized to deliver, the Contractor must submit a complete list of the new drivers to be submitted to the NIST Security.

2. Only drivers on the list shall be permitted access to the NIST sites. Drivers not on the list will be denied access to NIST. The Contractor must ensure that only authorized drivers deliver to any NIST site. NIST shall not be responsible for delays to deliveries due to non-authorized drivers being denied access to any facility.

CAMPUS SECURITY & ACCESS:

The Contractor employee shall be responsible for knowing and complying with all installation safety regulations. Such regulations include, but are not limited to, general safety, fire prevention, and waste disposal.

Security: NIST is a restricted campus. An identification badge is required for access for entry into buildings and also is shown to the armed Security Police when entering the campus.

Business Hours: The Gaithersburg, MD and Charleston, SC business hours are Monday through Friday 8:00am - 5:00 pm Eastern Time excluding Federal holidays and NIST closures. The business hours for the Boulder, CO campus are 6:00am – 6:00pm, Mountain Time excluding Federal holidays and NIST closures.

Identification Badges: Contractor employees shall comply with NIST identification and access requirements. Each Contractor employee shall wear a visible identification badge provided by the NIST Security Office.

Vehicle Registration: All Contractor employees must register their vehicles with the NIST Security Office to gain access to the campus. A valid driver’s license, Government-furnished civilian ID, proof of insurance and current registration must be presented to the NIST Security Office, at which time a NIST vehicle pass will be issued. The pass shall be displayed on the vehicle in accordance with NIST Security Office instructions.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Advanced payment is not authorized. The contractor must invoice for payment in the arrears. The Government requires that the Contractor submit no more than ONE invoice per month per NIST site (Gaithersburg, Boulder, Charleston).

Invoices must include all information identified in clause entitled “NIST LOCAL 54 BILLING INSTRUCTIONS FOR PURCHASE ORDERS”. Charges must be itemized based on the line-item schedule included in the contract, including sub-line items, if applicable.

Invoice nomenclature must clearly and directly cross reference with the information in the required delivery confirmations.