SOLICITATION 1333ND21QNB640462 SRM BOTTLING SoW.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK

Bottling of SRM 2776a

I. BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) supports the NIST mission by serving as the national reference laboratory for measurements in the chemical, biological and material sciences. Certified Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) for the solid fuels industry are part of that support.

SRM 2776 Furnace Coke is intended primarily for use in the evaluation of test methods and for the calibration of instruments used to determine sulfur in furnace (metallurgical) coke. SRM 2776 is projected to be out of stock soon and coke material from the same lot used to produce SRM 2776 remaining from the preparation of SRM 2776 needs to be blended and bottled to produce a renewal SRM 2776a. Preparation of a bottled material with negligible heterogeneity (within the inherent limitations of heterogeneity in the processed coke matrix) is important.

NIST has one (1) drum containing approximately 166 kg (360 lb) of furnace coke divided into two bags containing approximately 83 kg (180 lb) each. The material is sized at 250 µm (60 mesh). The material is from the same lot used to produce SRM 2776 Furnace Coke.

II. OBJECTIVE

The specific objective of this project requires that the entire contents of only one (1) of the bags of furnace coke be mixed and divided into sublots by spin-riffling into approximately 1200 bottles each containing at least 50 g and not more than 60 g of the furnace coke.

III. CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS

1. NIST will furnish to the Contractor one (1) drum containing 2 bags of 250 µm (60 mesh) furnace coke [totaling approximately 166 kg (360 lb)] and up to about 1600 amber glass screw-capped bottles. The number of bottles provided by NIST will be in excess of the number of bottles specified in this Statement of Work (SoW). The number of bottles required shall be at least 1200, but not exceeding 1400. The number of capped bottles will depend on the number of positions in the spin riffler the Contractor uses for bottling and the number of sublots the Contractor proposes to bottle.

2. Send all requested information (e.g., notifications, measurement data, and reports) to the NIST Technical Point of Contact (TPoC) via email once it is obtained.

3. Report to the NIST TPoC notice of receipt of the drum and bottles, within two (2) business days of receipt.

4. The Government reserves the right to be present at the Contractor’s site to witness the preparation and packaging. The Contractor shall notify the NIST TPoC of the tentative preparation and packaging schedule at least ten (10) business days prior to the scheduled opening of the drum to start work so that a NIST representative can plan travel. NIST will be responsible for any travel-related expenses and per diem

5. Remove each bag of furnace coke [nominally 83 kg (180 lb) each] from the drum and determine and record the mass of each to the nearest 100 g. Use an indelible dark ink marker to write the mass on each bag. Place the bag having the greater mass inside an empty plastic liner bag (liner must be ≥ 4 mm thickness) and secure with a zip-tie or another bag closure that minimizes any air within the bag. Place that bag inside a second plastic liner bag of the same dimension, secure it in the same manner as the first bag. On the outer bag, write in indelible ink the text “bulk coke not used for SRM 2776a” along with the same mass as that for the inner bag, and place it back in the drum. The furnace coke material shall not be exposed directly to the drum. The coke material in the bag of material having the lesser mass shall be processed for blending and bottling.

6. Based on the mass of the bag of coke material having the lesser mass that will be processed, review the processing and bottling plan submitted in the Contractor’s Quotation. Determine what revisions, if any, may be needed to that plan based on the actual mass of the bag of material. Determine the expected mean mass of material that each bottle will contain and the expected range (lowest to highest mass) for 98 % of the bottles (2 % might exceed this range) and for 99 % of the bottles (1 % might exceed this range). Prior to any subsequent processing, report to the NIST TPoC:

(A) the recorded mass of each bag that was removed from the drum, and the revised plan, if one is needed.

(B) the anticipated date for reaching the following milestones:

(1) reporting the mass of each lot split to NIST,

(2) completion of all bottling and recording of the mass of each filled and capped bottle,

(3) reporting the results of acceptance testing to NIST,

(4) shipment of bottles and remaining material to NIST.

(C) a detailed plan (hereinafter referred to as the “detailed bottling plan”), developed in consultation with the NIST TPoC, that identifies and tracks bottles throughout the bottling, acceptance testing, and packaging process until all bottles are sealed in shipping containers. In addition, the detailed bottling plan shall include documentation on the test portions to be removed to perform measurements for acceptability testing and how these measurements shall be conducted. The number of bottles removed, and the number of replicate test portions measured, will depend on the total number of bottles produced and the total number of lots and sublots. Parts of this detailed bottling plan will depend on information NIST provides to the Contractor prior to shipment of the material to the Contractor (see item # 4 under Government Responsibilities).

7. The written detailed bottling plan provided by the Contractor shall include the following:

(A) Documentation of the blending and splitting process that describes: a) how lots and sublots shall be produced; and, b) includes the estimated mass of the lots and sublots and a description of how, once the sublots have been produced, any material that is determined to be in excess of the mass that is needed to fill the bottles for that sublot shall be separated from the sublot. Any material separated from the sublot shall be placed into double-lined bags (each liner must be ≥ 4 mm thickness). Secure each liner with zip-ties or another bag closure that minimizes any air within the bag. Use an indelible dark ink marker to write the net mass of the material inside the bag (to the nearest 10 grams) and the lot and sublot the material was separated from. Record this same information in a separate log for reporting to NIST. Place the bag in the lined drum containing the nominal 83 kg bag of material that was not used for processing.

(B) Documentation of the procedure for identifying with a label each empty capped bottle designated to be filled with coke material and recording the empty mass of the labelled capped bottle that includes identification of each bottle and its cap. The cap shall be marked in a manner such that the identification is permanent and shall remain on the cap of each bottle that is shipped to NIST. Any identification applied to the glass bottle shall be made in a manner such that it, and any related material, can and shall be removed by the Contractor using alcohol after the bottle is filled with coke material and confirmation that the identification on the cap matches the identification on the bottle.

(C) Brief documentation of how each capped bottle will be labelled with the lot number, sublot number, and the order of filling within the sublot. Each sublot must represent a split produced in the final division of the lot by spin-riffling performed and the number of positions in the spin riffler equals the number of bottles in each sublot of material. This identification label shall be applied in a manner such that the label shall not be smeared, smudged, or removed by the alcohol wipe of the filled bottled, as specified in Requirement 12 below.

(D) Documentation of the procedure for tracking each bottle and monitoring the fill mass to make sure that each bottle contains between 50 g to 60 g, to maintain sufficient headspace to allow for mixing of the contents in the bottles provided. The minimum specifications to meet the fill mass requirement are that at least 98 % of the bottles shall contain at least 50 g and less than 60 g of coke material (50 g ≤ 98 % of bottles fill mass < 60 g). Within this requirement, at least 99 % of the bottles shall contain less than 60 g (< 1 % of the bottles contain more than 60 g). It is highly preferable, but not required that all bottles contain between 50 g and 60 g of furnace coke.

(E) Documentation of the number of sublots, the number of bottles in each sublot, the total number of bottles to be filled, the number of containers (e.g., boxes) of bottles (and number of bottles in each container) that shall be shipped to NIST.

(F) Documentation on a proposal for the test portions to be removed to perform measurements for acceptability testing and how these measurements shall be conducted (which will depend on the total number of bottles produced and the total number of sublots).

This documentation shall include:

1. The constituents to be measured, which shall be moisture (mass loss after drying at 107 °C for 1 h), sulfur (as received and dry-mass basis), and ash (as received and dry-mass basis);

2. The ASTM standard method(s) for coal or coke that shall be used to measure each constituent;

3. The nominal mass of the test portion for each constituent;

4. The number of bottles that will be removed for measurement (NIST will require at least 24 and no more than 48, depending on the number of bottles and sublots) and the lot, sublot, and bottle number within that sublot (selected by a random sampling approved by NIST);

5. The number of replicate test portions to be taken from each bottle (NIST will specify at least two (2) and no more than four (4), depending on the number of bottles and sublots);

6. The total number of measurements to be performed for each constituent, which will be calculated from the number of bottles measured and the number of replicates taken from each bottle (NIST will specify at least 48 and no more than 96 total measurements for each constituent, depending on the number of bottles and sublots);

7. Assignment of each specific measurement of a test portion to an analytical run and the position in that run (e.g., lot 2, sublot 4, bottle 50, replicate 2, sulfur run 2, position 6), as specified by NIST;

8. A description of how the corrections to a dry-basis shall be applied;

and

9. The name and address of the laboratory performing the analysis and contact information for the person responsible for the analysis.

8. After receipt of a detailed bottling plan from the Contractor that addresses all items stated above in Requirement 7, the NIST TPoC will have four (4) business days to review the reported masses and approve the written detailed bottling plan or request changes.

If the detailed bottling plan deviates from the requirements above, the NIST TPoC has the option of agreeing to those deviations. If the NIST TPoC requests changes to the detailed bottling plan, the Contractor shall have three (3) business days to approve the NIST requested changes or request additional changes. If the Contractor requests additional changes, the Contractor and the NIST TPoC shall agree on a final detailed bottling plan for producing the specified number of bottles within three (3) business days of NIST receiving the Contractor’s request. Once the Contractor has received NIST’s approval of the detailed bottling plan, the processing can continue in order to meet the requirements that follow.

9. Blend the approximately 83 kg (180 lb) of coke material by recombining opposite portions produced by the spin riffler or by an appropriately sized blender. The blending procedure must be designed to ensure that the material is well-mixed.

10. Spin riffle the blended material into lot splits of nominally equal mass (the number of lots equal to the number of lots in the detailed bottling plan). Determine and record the mass (to the nearest 10 grams) of each lot split. Once the splits have been produced, precautions must be taken to avoid contamination and minimize gain or loss of moisture prior to bottling. Prior to any subsequent processing, report the mass of each lot split to the NIST TPOC. The NIST TPOC will have until 5 PM of the second business day after receipt of this report to authorize the Contractor to proceed with further processing of the coke material.

11. Process each lot into a sublot and fill the bottles for each sublot by spin riffling according to the detailed bottling plan.

(A) Prior to filling the bottles for each sublot, label (refer to requirement #7C) each empty bottle and cap with the lot number, sublot number, and the order of filling within the sublot (must use pre-cleaned bottles and caps supplied by NIST) and record the mass of the empty capped bottle (to the nearest 0.1 g) in an electronic spreadsheet according to the detailed bottling plan. After the marked caps from the marked bottles are removed, both shall be stored in a manner that minimizes contamination.

(B) For each sublot, remove any excess material, as needed, and record the mass of each sublot after removal of excess material and the mass of that excess material, both to the nearest gram. Transfer excess material, if any, from each sublot to an empty liner bag (liner must be ≥ 4 mm thickness) and secure it with a zip-tie or another bag closure that minimizes any air within the bag. Use an indelible dark ink marker to write the mass of coke on each bag. Place that bag inside a second liner bag of the same dimension, secure it in the same manner as the first bag. On the outer bag, write in indelible ink the text “Excess coke from SRM 2776a, lot #, sublot #, coke mass = ## g”, and place it in the drum with the nominal 83 kg bag of coke that was not processed.

(C) Proceed with transferring the contents of each sublot by spin-riffling into bottles. The number of positions in the spin riffler must equal the number of bottles in each sublot of material. Bottles shall be filled by spin-riffling only. Coke material shall not be added to any bottle by methods other than spin riffling. Coke material shall not be removed from any bottle other than for removal of test portions, as specified in the detailed bottling plan, for testing to meet stated requirements.

12. After each bottle is filled and its cap secured, and it is confirmed that the identification on the cap matches the identification on the bottle, wipe clean the exterior of each filled bottle and its cap with alcohol. After residual alcohol on the bottle and cap has dried, record the mass of the capped bottle filled with coke material (to the nearest

0.1 g). Record the gross mass of each capped bottle (capped bottle filled with coke material, to the nearest 0.1 g) in the spreadsheet containing the empty mass of each capped bottle and, within that spreadsheet, calculate the net mass of coke material in each bottle (to the nearest 0.1 g).

13. Prior to sending the bottles to the laboratory for acceptance testing, the Contractor shall send an electronic copy of the spreadsheet containing the bottle masses to the NIST TPoC. In addition to the masses of each capped bottle (empty and full), the spreadsheet shall contain the following information: (1) the number of bottles filled,

(2) the number of sublots, (3) the mass of excess material, if any, from each sublot, (4) the number of bottles in each sublot (the number of bottles in each sublot shall be the same for each sublot), (5) the identification of each bottle with the lot, sublot, and order of fill in each sublot, (6) the identification of the bottles that shall be sent for acceptance testing, and (7) any changes to the acceptance testing from the detailed bottling plan. After receipt of this information from the Contractor, the NIST TPoC will have three (3) business days to review the information and approve the submission of the identified bottles for acceptance testing or request changes. If the bottles identified for acceptance testing deviate from the detailed bottling plan, the NIST TPoC has the option of agreeing to those deviations. If the NIST TPoC requests changes to the acceptance testing plan, the Contractor shall have two (2) business days to approve the NIST requested changes or request additional changes. If the Contractor requests additional changes, the Contractor and the NIST TPoC shall agree on a final acceptance testing plan within two (2) business days. Once the Contractor has received NIST’s approval of the acceptance testing plan, the Contractor can submit the bottles for acceptance testing.

14. Store (away from dust or contamination) all labelled bottles in one of the containers (boxes) in which the empty bottles were shipped (unless the container is not usable) according to fill order, and clearly identify the contents of each shipping container box (e.g., sublot number, and bottles within that sublot) on the top and at least one side on the shipping container. A paper or plastic based container other than the box in which the bottles were shipped from NIST is acceptable if it does not increase the likelihood of bottle breakage. Packaging the bottles from each sublot in separate containers is also acceptable. The Contractor shall notify the NIST TPoC of the total number of bottles and the number of containers of bottles.

15. Remove the bottles specified for acceptance testing in the detailed bottling plan from the shipping container (replacing each removed bottle with an empty upside-down bottle). The laboratory personnel shall remove the measurement test portions from the bottles, as specified in the detailed bottling plan. The number of bottles removed and number of replicate test portions measured will depend on the total number of bottles produced and the total number of sublots. Perform measurements of moisture, sulfur, and ash as specified in the detailed bottling plan and report all the measurement data, for each test portion, to the NIST TPoC in an electronic spreadsheet. Report the determined moisture and sulfur to the nearest 0.001 % and ash to the nearest 0.01 %. NIST will review this measurement data to determine if the material shows statistically significant signs of heterogeneity (as specified below) and the NIST TPoC will report back to the Contractor, within six (6) business days of receipt of the measurement data. Determination that the material show signs of heterogeneity will be based on the results of a statistical test for differences between bottles at the 5 % significance level. Retain these sublot bottles and residual coke material in them until testing is completed. After NIST has notified the Contractor that the material meets the homogeneity criteria, prepare these retained bottles for shipment to NIST in a separate container.

16. If NIST determines that the material does not meet the homogeneity criteria, it has an additional two (2) business days to make a recommendation to address that heterogeneity issue. NIST recommendations may include, but not be limited to the following, all of which are options, but not requirements: (A) If NIST determines that one or more sublot(s) do not meet the homogeneity criteria, it has the option of accepting the results and segregating the material that does not meet the criteria from the remaining sublots. (B) If NIST determines that there is not a sufficient amount of material that meets the homogeneity criteria, it has the option of recommending, for some or all of the material, remixing, subdividing, rebottling, and reanalyzing the material following the same specifications above for the original work at no additional cost to NIST. NIST may require using new bottles for the remixed material, and if so, will provide those bottles at no cost. Cleaning of the new bottles at NIST might delay completion of the work. Once notified of NIST’s recommendation to address any heterogeneity issue, the Contractor has three (3) business days to respond to NIST’s recommendation. If the Contractor does not agree with NIST’s recommendation it can propose an alternative. If NIST and the Contractor cannot agree on a recommendation to address the heterogeneity issue within five (5) business days of NIST’s receipt of the Contractors alternative, they will negotiate a settlement that compensates the Contractor for work completed, but may be less than the full quoted price.

17. The containers of bottles containing the coke material from the spin riffled sublots, the excess material, and the nominal 83 kg bag of material not processed (in double lined bags inside lined drums), shall be readied for shipment to NIST. No later than six

(6) business days after the NIST TPoC has reported to the Contractor that statistically significant signs of heterogeneity have not been detected or the Contractor and NIST have agreed that the processing, bottling, and analysis are complete, the Contractor shall notify the NIST TPoC on the number of containers of bottles and drums that shall be shipped to NIST with an itemized list that includes the gross mass (weight) of each item and the total mass (weight) of the shipment. The Contractor shall ship to:

National Institute of Standards and Technology Shipping and Receiving, Bldg. 301 100 Bureau Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20899

The Contractor shall arrange for carrier pick-up and pay shipping costs.

18. All work shall be completed, all reports on measurement data and results sent to

NIST, and all material shipped to NIST, within twenty (20) weeks of the Contractor receiving the materials from NIST described in Requirement 1. This twenty (20) week period fully takes into account the time required to complete all requirements, assuming NIST determines that the material meets the homogeneity criteria based on initial tests.

19. If NIST determines that additional blending, bottling, and analysis are required, including the extra time that might be required for NIST to review measurement results and modifications to the processing stated in Requirement 16, the Contractor must complete all additional work within 8 weeks of reaching agreement with NIST on a recommendation to address the heterogeneity issue and the Contractor possessing all bottles required for rebottling.

20. The Contractor must take precautions to minimize losses to breakage or other accidents and shall report the loss of any filled bottles to the NIST TPoC within two (2) business days of the loss.

IV. DELIVERABLES

1. Delivery to NIST of the number of bottles, filled with coke prepared and processed as specified in Requirements 1-20, containing between 50 grams and 60 grams each. The bottles shall be packaged in a suitable container [e.g., 180 capped bottles in three (3) layers of 60 bottles each, all separated from each other by paper or cardboard inside a cardboard box]. Bottles pulled from the container to meet stated requirements shall be replaced with empty upside-down bottles.

Bottles of coke material shall be packaged and shipped as specified in Requirements 14, 15, and 17.

2. Delivery of non-bottled coke material in secured liners in lined drums (Requirements 5 and 11).

3. Within days specified by the requirements: Report back information to NIST as required (multiple requirements).

4. Notification of receipt of drum and bottles (Requirement 3)

5. Notification of the tentative preparation and packaging schedule at least ten (10) business days prior to the scheduled opening of the drum to start work (Requirement 4).

6. Notification, prior to processing material, of the anticipated date for reporting mass of lot splits, mass of filled bottles, results of acceptance testing, shipment of bottles to NIST (Requirement 6).

7. All measurement data reported to the NIST TPoC via email including

(A) Mass of two bags of furnace coke removed from the drum (Requirement 6).

(B) Mass of each lot (Requirement 10).

(C) Mass of excess material, if any, removed from each split (Requirement 13).

(D) Mass of each empty capped bottle that has been marked with identification

(Requirement 13).

(E) Mass of each capped bottle filled with coke material and net mass of coke in each bottle with its corresponding label identification of lot number, sublot number and order of fill in sublot (Requirement 13).

(F) Mass loss on drying, sulfur, and ash for test portions taken from bottles for acceptance testing so that NIST can determine if the material has statistically significant degree of heterogeneity (Requirement 15).

(G) For shipment to NIST, the gross mass (weight) of each item and the total mass (weight) of the shipment (Requirement 17).

8. Documentation on the detailed bottling plan (Requirement 7) including

(A) Blending and splitting process. Segregation of excess material (Requirement

7A).

(B) Bottle labelling procedure (Requirement 7B).

(C) Specific labelling with lot #, sublot #, order of filling (Requirement 7C).

(D) Procedure for bottle tracking and monitoring of fill mass (Requirement 7D).

(E) Number of sublots, numbers of bottles in each sublot, total number of bottles, number of container of bottles, and number of bottles per container (Requirement 7E).

9. Acceptability testing plan (Requirement 7F).

10. Report on number of bottles filled, number of sublots, number of bottles in each sublot, and identification of bottles that shall be sent for acceptance testing (Requirement 13).

11. Report on total number of bottes and number of containers of bottles (Requirement 14).

12. Report on results of acceptance testing (Requirement 15).

13. Report on the number of containers of bottles and drums that shall be shipped to

NIST (Requirement 17).

14. Report on the loss of any filled bottle within two (2) days of the loss (Requirement

20).

V. GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

1. NIST reserves the right to have a representative on site to observe the process

2. NIST will report back information to the Contractor as required.

3. Prior to shipment of the material to the Contractor, NIST will report to the

Contractor information NIST deems necessary for the Contractor to prepare a detailed bottling plan. This information will be based on the technical approach described in the technical quotation submitted by the Contractor, and depends mainly on, the number of lots, sublots, and bottles in each sublot. The information provided by NIST will include a confirmation of the total number of bottles to be filled (number of sublots multiplied by the number of bottles in each sublot). It will also include NIST’s request for the total number of bottles to be tested for acceptance testing and the number of replicates to be taken from each bottle.

VI. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

1. The net mass of each bottled coke portion shall be between 50 grams to 60 grams of material – see details in item 2.

2. The NIST TPoC will inspect the bottles and drum of coke material upon arrival at

NIST. Bottles will be inspected to assess whether the correct number of bottles were delivered based on what was reported and that, for at least 98 % of the bottles, the mass of coke in each bottle is between 50 grams to 60 grams, with sufficient headspace to allow for mixing of the contents. The drum will be inspected to assess that the contents of the lined bags agrees with the Contractor’s report.

3. In addition, acceptance of the material will be based on the results of the data reported by the Contractor, including determination of no signs of significant heterogeneity based on the results of a statistical test for differences between bottles at the 5 % significance level.

VII. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY, MATERIAL, EQUIPMENT, or INFORMATION (GFP, GFM, GFE, or GFI)

Post award, NIST will provide to the Contractor:

1. Information NIST deems necessary for the Contractor to prepare a detailed bottling plan. This information will be based on the technical approach described in the technical quotation submitted by the Contractor and depends mainly on the number of lots, sublots, and bottles in each sublot.

2. Pre-cleaned amber glass bottles and screw caps of the same type used for NIST coal and coke SRMs. NIST will ship sufficient amber glass bottles to the Contractor for spin-riffle bottling. An excess number of bottles (≈200) will be shipped to allow for any breakage, bottle material wastage, and to serve as spacers to replace bottles pulled for analysis

3. One (1) drum containing approximately166 kg (360 lb) of 250 µm (60 mesh) furnace coke material divided into two bags containing approximately 83 kg (180

lb) each. Any unused furnace coke shall be returned to the Government along with the bottles of SRM 2776a. The Contractor shall package the coke to minimize leakage from the primary container.

IX. PLACE of PERFORMANCE

Performance shall be at the Contractor’s facility

X. PERIOD of PERFORMANCE

Delivery shall occur within six (6) months of award.