Field portable X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer

Subject: Cavity ring down spectrometer
Procurement Office: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Headquarters Acquisition Division 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue. NW Washington. DC 20460
In accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research
and Development intends to award a Sole Source Firm Fixed Price Purchase Order for a Cavity Ringdown
Spectrometer to Picarro, Inc. The estimated value of this award is $59,050.
Picarro, Inc. will manufacture and test a Model 2103 cavity ring-down spectrometer for trace
level measurements of NH3 in ambient air meeting the specifications described below:
The analyzer must operate on the principle of cavity ring-down spectroscopy.
The analyzer must include a pump.
The analyzer must weigh 60 pounds or less including pump.
The dimensions of the instrument must be no more than 18. wide, 8. high, and 19. deep
The analyzer must operate at ambient temperatures up to 35 oC
The instrument must have a guaranteed measurement range of 0 ¿ 500 ppb.
1s precision (1¿) must be 0.5 ppb or less.
300s precision (1¿) must be 0.05 ppb or less.
Lower detection limit (3¿, 300s) must be Zero drift should be ± 0.15 or less over 72 hours and ± 0.5 or less over 1 month.
Measurement interval must be 1s.
The analyzer is required to guarantee, test, certify, and quote the precision specifications.
The analyzer must be operable with normal ambient concentrations of water vapor.
Special filtering or gas drying cannot be required.
The system must also measure H2O and CO2.
The software must include automated water vapor correction.
The analyzer must not require any regular optical maintenance such as mirror cleaning
The analyzer must have been drop tested and vibration tested during manufacturing to
prove ruggedness in the field.
There can be no requirements upon the user to ¿tune¿ the observed spectra or adjust the
optics to meet the performance requirements.
The instrument must include software necessary for operation of the instrument and data
output and visualization.
Operation software must report real time data in multiple charts & be developed for the
Windows environment
This instrument will be deployed in a mobile configuration for measurements of emissions from
agricultural sources (i.e., in an instrumented field vehicle) and on tall towers (> 125 ft) to support airsurface
exchange measurements in natural and agricultural landscapes. For these logistically challenging
applications, space and weight limitations are extremely restrictive, precluding the use of multiple
instruments to measure the required suite of compounds (i.e., CO2, H2O, NH3). For this reason, a single
instrument capable of measuring this full suite of compounds simultaneously is required. For these
applications, the size of the analyzer, or total footprint of multiple analyzers, must be no more than 18¿
wide, 8 high, and 19 deep and the total weight of the analyzer (or multiple analyzers) must be 60
pounds or less. For trace level measurements in forested environments, extremely low detection limits
( A market survey was conducted to identify other potential vendors of spectroscopy-based
instrumentation meeting the above requirements. No other manufacturers were found which
manufacture an instrument that simultaneously measures NH3, CO2, H2O with the detection limits and
precision required for the current application.
Based on this market research, Picarro, Inc is the only vendor identified that can provide an instrument
that meets the requirements detailed above.
NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE.
This notice of intent to award is not a request for competitive quotations. Interested concerns capable:
or providing the service as described in this notice may submit a Capability Statement outlining their
capabilities. Information received will be evaluated for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a
competitive procurement. Capability Statements must be received within the time set forth in this
announcement to be considered by the Government. A determination to compete this proposed
contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Each
response should include the following Business Information:
a. DUNS.
b. Company Name. address, POC, Phone and Email address
c. Current GSA Schedules or NAICS codes appropriate to this Award.
d. Type of Company (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, HubZone, veteran owned. etc.) as
validated in System For Award Management (SAM). All offerors must register on the SAM located at
http://www.sam.gov/portal/SAM/# l
e. Capability Statement
Responses to this posting must be in writing and provide clear and convincing evidence that competition
would be advantageous to the Government. A determination not to compete the proposed purchase
order based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All
questions should be directed to William Tichacek, Contract Specialist at tichacek.william@epa.gov.
NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.