NOTICE_OF_INTENT_75N94022Q00147.pdf

INTRODUCTION

THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS

TO AWARD A CONTRACT OR PURCHASE ORDER WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL

OR OPEN COMPETITION. The National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD), in support of the work of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Disease (NIDDK), intends to award a purchase order without providing for full and open competition (Including brand-name) to Cryomech, 6682 Moore Road, Syracuse, NY 13211, to acquire Helium gas recovery and liquefaction system.

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS) CODE

The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 334516 with a Size Standard 1000.

REGULATORY AUTHORITY

The resultant contract will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Circular (FAC) 2022-06 effective 05-26-2022.

This acquisition is conducted under the procedures as prescribed in FAR subpart 13- Simplified Acquisition Procedures at an amount not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold ($250,000) and FAR Subpart 12- Acquisition of Commercial Items.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures, Subpart 13.106-1 (b) (1), Soliciting from a single source and is not expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.

Contracts awarded using FAR Part 13—Simplified Acquisition Procedures are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6—Competition Requirements.

Place of Performance National Institutes of Health 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda MD 20892 United States

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

The study of the structure, dynamics, and interactions of proteins by observing their weak nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals provides key atomic level insights into biology at the molecular level, with strong impacts on a wide range of human diseases, ranging from HIV, COVID-19, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and diabetes, to molecular processes that are at the core of many types of cancers.

This work, carried out in the NIDDK relies on the use of strong, superconducting magnets.

These magnets require cooling to 4.2K (for 14.1 Tesla magnets) or 2.2K for 18.8 T magnet and one ultra-high field 21.1-Tesla system that is shared with NHLBI and NCI. This cooling is enabled by means of liquid helium. It is critical that this cooling is never interrupted as this would result in the loss of superconductivity, which can melt and thereby irreversibly

PRE-SOLICITATION NON-COMPETITIVE (NOTICE OF INTENT) SYNOPSIS

damage the coils that provide the magnetic field. These superconducting magnets are extremely expensive, ranging from $500K for a small 11.7T system, to more than $5,000K for a 21T magnet.

NIDDK has traditionally purchased its liquid helium from commercial vendors. However, due to a number of factors, including a disruption of the mining capabilities and Russia being a major producer that is currently not supplying, combined with the sharp recent increase in use of liquid helium as a coolant and propellant in the commercial space program, vendors are unable to deliver the helium they are contractually obligated to provide. Moreover, the near depletion of the large storage reservoir of the Bureau of Land Management is exacerbating this situation.

REQUIRED FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS

A number of vendors have developed suitable systems for recycling and reliquefying helium gas. Such equipment is complex and requires a substantial amount of physical space but can be accommodated in the room where a number of the magnets are located.

The required equipment components include:

Helium Liquefier:

a) Must produce a minimum of 20 L of Liquid Helium per day.

b) Must be able to collect a minimum of 350 L of liquid in one liquefier unit prior to transfer to the storage tank used to fill the NMR magnets. Multiple units requiring multiple liquid helium transfers to the storage tank is not acceptable.

c) Liquefaction plant must be configurable to not lose more than 0.5 liter of liquid helium / day from its 350 L collection reservoir when not processing raw helium gas.

d) System must contain all parts / modules necessary to generate liquid helium and transfer to a 250 L storage tank (i.e., cold head & paired helium compressor, stainless high pressure flex lines of appropriate size, system controller, liquid helium level sensor, vacuum-jacketed liquid helium transfer line).

Helium Recovery System:

a) 9.5’ x 6’ x 7’ atmospheric recovery bag (installation site space is limiting).

b) High Pressure Compressor to compress gas from the recovery bag into the high-pressure (2400 psi) gas storage tanks. Compressor must be able to empty a 400 cf bag full of helium gas in less than 1 hour.

c) Manifold with CGA580 connections to connect 12 high pressure storage tanks. Must contain a pressure regulator suitable for controlling the pressure of gas sent to the automatic purifier.

d) Sensors, cables, and a controller so that gas is automatically compressed to the high-pressure gas storage tanks when the recovery bag becomes full.

Automatic helium purifier:

a) Sized to meet the capacity of the Helium Liquefier described above.

b) Must be able to efficiently remove Nitrogen gas.

c) Must contain a dryer to remove moisture from the recovered helium gas.

d) Any specialized parts necessary to maintain this system must be included.

e) Must be able to supply gas of the minimum purity required by the liquefaction plant.

Additional parts and accessories: NIH will provide the plumbing up to the helium recovery bag. Any additional cables, gas lines, and controllers that are required to connect the various components of the system to obtain a complete, fully functioning Helium recovery system must be provided by the vendor.

Installation & Training: The vendor will be responsible for the installation of their equipment.

The vendor will also provide training to NIH staff scientists on how to use and maintain the helium recovery / liquefaction system.

Task Area 1 – Delivery: Vendor shall deliver the order to the NIH Bethesda Main Campus.

Task Area 2 – Shipping: Vendor to ship DAP and is to arrange shipment to NIDDK and is responsible for shipping to our dock/destination.

Task Area 3 – Installation: The vendor shall install and connect the equipment to existing electrical power and chilled water supply.

Task Area 4 – Warranty: The vendor shall offer a 1-year warranty on all components of the supplied equipment.

Task Area 5 – Training: At the time of installation, the vendor shall demonstrate to two NIH representatives how to safely operate and maintain the equipment.

CONTRACTING WITHOUT PROVIDING FOR FULL OR OPEN COMPETITION

(INCLUDING BRAND- NAME) DETERMINATION

The determination by the Government to award a contract without providing for full and open competition is based upon the market research conducted as prescribed in FAR Part 10—Market Research. Only one source is available: Per FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) the Contracting Officer has determined that CryoMech is the only vendor that can provide the Helium gas recovery and liquefaction system.

CLOSING STATEMENT

NOTE TO CONTRACTOR: The contractor shall provide a completed copy of FAR 52.204-24, "Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment" with their quote in response to this solicitation.

This synopsis is not a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provided feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement, unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Vendor/Contractor’s (UEI) the Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov is now the authoritative identifier for those doing business with the federal government. The DUNS Number is no longer valid for federal award identification, the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.”

A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will normally be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to proceed on a non-competitive basis or to conduct a competitive procurement.

All responses to this notice (75N94022Q00147) shall be submitted electronically by 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, on July 25, 2022.

Assessment of Capability The contractor will be evaluated on their capability to provide the product to the specifications as stated on the solicitation and shall be required to provide required service with certification from the OEM.

http://www.sam.gov/