Sources Sought: High-Temperature Intrinsic Viscosity Analyzer

This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY.  Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response. 

This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal, Request for Quotation, or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to conduct a follow-on acquisition.

This Notice assists the Government in determining whether there are any domestically manufactured end product sources for the project title.

NIST does not intend to award a contract based on this Notice or otherwise pay for the information requested.  No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of the submission of responses to this Notice and NIST's use of such information.  Any proprietary, classified, or sensitive information should be presented as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information.  In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper.

NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME.

NIST requires a high-temperature intrinsic viscosity analyzer capable of performing accurate high temperature intrinsic viscosity measurements including, among other components, a dual capillary differential viscometer capable of operating at high-temperatures, including automated fluid handling, cleaning, and the ability to analyze resultant data. This will be used to determine intrinsic viscosity of dilute solution polyolefins (polyethylene, polypropylene, and others) needed for standards and research at NIST. The analyzer must be able to meet the following requirements:

HARDWARE

1. Dual capillary/differential viscometer approach – the instrument shall use a dual-capillary measurement of specific viscosity to determine intrinsic viscosity of the polymer – the dimensions (length and radius) of the capillaries and the tolerances of their specification must be provided to NIST to ensure uncertainty propagation can be carried out accurately for the calculation of absolute viscosity by Poiseuille’s Law for standards recertification.
2. Autosampler – instrument shall be able to move hot solutions from vials to the instrument without exposing user to hot solvent.  Autosampler shall accommodate at least 20 sample vials.  Dissolution method should limit shear degradation to polymers – vendor should demonstrate limiting sample degradation with dissolution method (either stirring, vortex, or shaking of solvent)
3. Degasser – system shall have integrated degasser to remove air bubbles from solvent
4. The system shall use syringe or dual pumps to move hot solvent without manual interaction by user and minimize pressure changes
5. Cleaning characteristics – instrument must have automated washing to clean capillaries and flush after injection to prevent blockages
6. Range of intrinsic viscosity – The instrument must be able to analyze polymer with intrinsic viscosity between 0.1 dL/g and 40 dL/g to analyze polymers with weight average molar mass (Mw ) less than 500 g/mol and greater than 7.5 Mg/mol.
7. Temperature range – Instrument shall be able to take specific viscosity measurements between 80 °C and 180 °C to be able to analyze polymers such as polypropylene.  If operating temperature cannot reach the 180 °C limit, but the instrument has compensatory methods for achieving analysis of higher melting point polymers to meet this specification, the vendor must show documentation how this is achieved and the uncertainty of the measurement as a result.
   1. Ambient analysis capability (25-80 °C would also be highly desirable, but is not a technical requirement for our polyolefin standards)
8. Organic Solvent compatibility requirement – including 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, o-dichlorobenzene, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran, decalin, 1-chloronapthalene
9. Mass accuracy – instrument must have integrated method to determine mass of polymer analyzed in solution for accuracy in concentration measurement.
10. Sample volumes per injection shall not exceed 35 mL
11. Samples – Instrument shall be capable of determining the intrinsic viscosity of polymer type: polyolefins (high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, linear low-density polyethylene, isotactic polypropylene, ultra-high molar mass polyethylene) as well as other commercial polymers poly(vinyl chloride), poly(methyl methacrylate), polyamides, poly(ethylene terephthalate), polyesters
12. Instrument methods must comply with ASTM D5225 and be traceable to ASTM ASTM D1601-18 (Ubbelohde method for polyethylene)

SOFTWARE

1. Software must include ability to analyze and calibrate data to:
   1. Determine specific viscosity of a single sample and intrinsic viscosity of multiple concentrations of an injected sample (extrapolating the concentration to zero).
   2. Must be able to overlay multiple injections within the software.
   3. Must include the ability to export raw data for external processing, including at least 1 type of text or Excel compatible formats (.txt, .csv, .xlsx).
   4. Must include ability to install/reinstall analysis software for at least three computers through either site licenses or a network-based software license.
   5. Analysis reports must be configurable by the user to provide any or all of the available information and data.

NIST anticipates issuing a Request for Quotation in the fourth quarter of FY25 and is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses.

The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing with a small business size standard of 1000 Employees.  Please include your company’s size classification, socio-economic status, and the country of origin of the manufactured end product in any response to this notice. 

After the market research results are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract.  Companies that can provide such items are requested to email a written response describing their abilities to rudolph.spencer@nist.gov no later than the response date for this Sources Sought Notice.

The following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this Sources Sought Notice:

1. Name, Address, UEID, CAGE code, and point of contact information of your company.
2. Any information on the company’s small business certifications, if applicable.
3. Describe your company’s capabilities as they relate to the equipment described in this notice.
4. Describe your company’s previous experience providing the equipment described in this notice.
5. Indication of whether the equipment described in this notice is currently offered via your company’s GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract, Governmentwide Acquisition Contract (GWAC), or other existing Governmentwide contract vehicle; and, if so, the contract number(s) for those vehicles.
6. Any other relevant information not listed above that the Government should consider in finalizing its market research.
7. Place of Manufacture: Is more than 55% of item manufactured domestically, and if not where is it manufactured?

Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages. The responses must be in MS Word format.  Pages shall be 8½-inch x 11-inch, using Times New Roman 11 Point Font.  Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be analyzed) may be included in the 1" margin space.