RFI-SSN LN2 9-10-26.docx

Request for Information/Sources Sought Notice for Providers/Suppliers of Liquid Nitrogen and Related Services

Notice ID: NIST-SS26-179

Contract Opportunity Type:

Sources Sought

Response Date: September 24, 2026 at 2:00 PM EST

Product Service Code:

6830 - Gases: Compressed and Liquefied

NAICS Code:

325120 - Industrial Gas Manufacturing

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is conducting market research to identify sources that can provide liquid nitrogen, tank filling services, tank rental, telemetry rental, and inspection services as scheduled and on-demand to NIST sites in Gaithersburg, Maryland; Boulder, Colorado; and Charleston, South Carolina.

Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is an extremely cold liquid and is widely used across many NIST laboratories, with an estimated annual NIST usage of approximately 1.5 million gallons per year. LN2 is used throughout the NIST Gaithersburg, Boulder, and Charleston laboratories as a coolant, as a source of nitrogen purge gas, and for other mission-critical experiments and applications. Its use is so prevalent that many NIST labs are plumbed to allow liquid nitrogen to be delivered on demand, directly to the labs from storage tanks outside the laboratory buildings. NIST’s LN2 tanks have capacities ranging from 1,500 to 11,000 gallons and are regularly refilled by tanker trucks from a contracted liquid nitrogen supplier.

This Sources Sought Notice (Notice) is strictly to request information for market research purposes to help NIST determine the appropriate acquisition strategy for this requirement. Responses to this Notice will assist NIST in determining what capable vendors exist, assess small business participation, evaluate commercial availability of potential sources, and help inform NIST’s acquisition approach. This Notice shall not be construed as a solicitation, an obligation, or commitment by NIST. No award will be made based on industry responses to this Notice. NIST will not reimburse companies for costs incurred in responding to this Notice.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING TO THIS NOTICE

Parties that respond to this Notice are requested to voluntarily submit the requested information via email in Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, and/or Microsoft Excel format to the designated point(s) of contact whose name and email address appear at the bottom of this Notice. [Specify response maximum length here. Font size, margins, font. Specify maximum file size (large files can be kicked back by the gov server]. To the extent you provide proprietary, confidential, or sensitive information in response to the requests below, the information must be clearly marked as such on all materials submitted. Please do not provide classified information in response to this Notice.

Information Requested in Response to This Notice: To help NIST with its market research, NIST is requesting that industry sources carefully review this Notice and any attachments to it and voluntarily provide the following information:

1. Company Summary

Respondents shall include the following information on the Cover Page:

1. Sources Sought Notice number and title

1. Your company’s Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number

1. Company Name

1. Company Address

1. Company website address

1. Company Point of Contact, Phone, and Email address

1. Validation of your company’s size status under NAICS: 325120 - Industrial Gas Manufacturing; See table of size standards at https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards for more information.

1. Indicate whether your company has an active registration for procurement purposes in sam.gov.

2. Feedback for Draft Requirements

· Review the potential requirements/minimum specifications included with this Notice. Then, please provide suggestions to (a) improve the clarity of the Statement of Work (SOW); and (b) what other information should NIST consider in determining its acquisition strategy for requirements such as those in the draft SOW.

3. Information Regarding Your Company’s Products and Services NIST invites industry sources to review this Notice carefully and to familiarize themselves with the draft SOW.

To better understand the liquid nitrogen marketplace for the purity level and volume of liquid nitrogen required by NIST, NIST is requesting that sources respond to this Notice and provide the following information regarding your company.

a) Does your company currently have the capability to provide liquid nitrogen at the purity levels and volume specified in the draft SOW? A yes or no response is appropriate here.

b) Provide your company’s standard commercial pricing information for liquid nitrogen, at the purity levels specified in the draft SOW. Please specify the unit of issue (liter or gallon).

c) Provide details on how the standard commercial price changes by volume on a percentage basis, such as for the volume indicated in the draft SOW. Please complete the attached Estimated Price Table.

d) How has your company’s standard commercial pricing for liquid nitrogen, for the purity levels specified in the draft SOW, changed over each of the last 3 years, on a percentage basis, and how do you project the prices to change over each of the next 5 years?

e) If a solicitation that includes requirements similar to the draft SOW were to be issued in October 2026, would your company be capable and interested in submitting a quotation for such a requirement as a prime contractor?

f) NIST is a secure site and requires commercial licensed drivers to go through a vetting process (background check) to deliver and fill the liquid nitrogen tanks at the Gaithersburg, Maryland and Boulder, Colorado sites. Does your company currently employ or otherwise have the capability to secure CDL drivers that would pass a background check if your company were awarded a contract as prime contractor for requirements such as those in the draft SOW?

g) Please share examples of relevant liquid nitrogen supply contracts and corporate experience.

IMPORTANT NOTES

Responses received after the closing date for this Notice may not be considered in forming the acquisition strategy.

The Government reserves the right to use information that it receives in response to this Notice as it deems appropriate to establish final requirements or for all other legal purposes.

Any organization responding to this Notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

The Government reserves the right to follow up on a one-on-one basis with respondents to request additional information or clarifications about information submitted.

Confidentiality - The Government reserves the right to use any information received in response to this Notice as it deems appropriate in establishing requirements for its upcoming acquisition.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NOTICE

For additional information, please contact the primary contact or, if named, secondary contact identified at the bottom of this Notice.

Interested parties shall submit responses by the closing date of this Notice to nina.lin@nist.gov (primary contact) and to donald.collie@nist.gov (secondary contact).

THANK YOU

We truly appreciate your company’s willingness to provide the above-referenced information, which will be valuable in assisting NIST in its market research effort.