ION Chromatograph System (ICS)

IMPORTANT: This posting is a pre-solicitation notice only for an upcoming solicitation. No response is necessary. A formal solicitation, which will be open to quotes/responses, will be posted at a later time.

1. Instrument Technical Specifications
   1. The instrument should be a dual fluid channel system capable of running two analyses simultaneously using on or more auto samplers.
   2. The system must be capable OF INTERFACE WITH CONDUCTIVITY, US/Vis, and/or amperometric detectors.
   3. The system must offer additional upgrade modules to accommodate multiple configurations and sample preparations.
   4. The system shall not require gas supplies.
   5. Eluent concentrates must be commercially available and cannot be proprietary.
   6. The instrument system’s housing must provide access to the fluidic connections and components.  It must all allow for easy visual monitoring through a large, transparent door. 
   7. The completed flow path should be metal-=free and preinstalled from the factory.
   8. The systems should be equipped with a pump, column suppressor, detector, purge valve, leak detector, six port injection valve, pulsation dampener, and have the ability to be degas the eluent sample.
   9. The system’s pump shall have a dual piston with two valves and flow-range-optimized intelligent pump head which has up to 20ml/min flow rate, a flow accuracy with <0.1% deviation from the set valve, and a flow increment of 0.001ml/min.
   10. The conductivity detector shall be an intelligent, high-performance conductance detector incorporated as an integral part of the instrument system offering digital signal processing technology (DSP) with the following specifications.
       1. Measuring range or 0 to 15000 µS/cm

1. 1. 1. Temperature stability <0.001 oC and temperature range 20 to 50 oC in increments of 5 oC.
      2. Operational noise <0.2 nS/cm for sequential suppression.
      3. Ring-shaped electrodes made of stainless steel 316L Cr-Ni-Mo alloy. The maximum operating pressure should be 10.0 MPa (100 bar).
   2. The instrument’s suppressor system shall have the following:
      1. A tri-chamber micro capillary packed bed suppressor module

1. 1. 1. Automatic chemical regeneration of the suppressor module.
      2. 100% solvent compatibility
      3. Ten years warranty
      4. CO2 suppressor shall provide fo CO2 removal from the eluent via vacuum degassing.
      5. The column thermostats shall provide a heating capability up to 80 oC; cooling capability down to -20 oC from ambient temperature; temperature stability <0.05 oC; temperature accuracy ±0.2 oC.
2. Auto Sampler

The autosampler must have an ultrafiltration system and be capable of the following;

1. 1. Be able to hold at least 100 vials each with a minimum volume of at least 10 ml allowing for overnight runs and multiple injections per vial.
   2. Has random access, so that priority samples can be added at any time without having to pause sample sequence or reorganizing the sample rack.
   3. Must hold at least three rinse vessels of at least 200 ml volumes allowing for complete rinse of the flow path of each sample.
   4. Must use non-proprietary vials commonly available from multiple lab supply vendors.
   5. Must be able to use inline filtration of samples using a crossflow principle down to  0.2 µm.
   6. Rinse the filter between samples.
   7. Handles 100-200 samples per filter.
2. Software

The system’s software shall provide for the following:

1. 1. Remote access and full network compatibility.
   2. Traceability of all QC samples and notify users if a sample fails user-specified criteria.
   3. Automatic insertion of QA/QC samples into the current sample analysis table
   4. Free software upgrades.
   5. Software support for five years.
2. Warranties
   1. Instrument coverage for three years.
   2. Anion suppressor coverage for ten years.
   3. Instrument parts and support offer guaranteed availability for ten years after the model reaches commercial retirement from the market.
3. Delivery: Delivery is approximately six weeks from date of award.  This meets the needs of the PTC timeline to complete instrument acquisition.
4. Section (a)(2)(iii) states, “For DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard, services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in:
   1. Substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition; or
   2. Unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.

With respect to (b), there would be unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.  The PTC has until the end of Fiscal Year 2025 to be capable of analyzing SM materials.  The PTC must have demonstrated these capabilities as well.  Delaying this acquisition would not meet the PTC’s requirements. 

1. Metrohm’s prices for their ICS are similar to the prices of similar ion chromatography systems offered by other vendors.