AVL TOXIC SAMPLER SYSTEM (TS-SYSTEM) UPGRADE

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office Acquisition Management (OAM) Cincinnati Procurement Operations Division (CPOD), intends to negotiate, on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, with AVL North America, Inc. The applicable NAICS code is 334516. This is an acquisition for the need to upgrade a piece of existing EPA test equipment. This equipment, a toxic sampler, was originally designed by AVL through a competitive contract, and built as a unique prototype consisting of proprietary AVL components and software. The Upgrade is to consist of the following: 1) The contractor shall propose an upgrade to the existing Toxic Sampler System (TSS) to allow for proportional flow sampling during transient tests. This will require the system to quickly and accurately change sample flow rates over a wide dynamic range - from 1 to 350 LPM - in order to maintain flow proportionality at all times. This is a much wider operating range than can be quickly and accurately controlled by the currently installed sample pump (10 - 230 LPM) and flow control system. Therefore this work shall require the contractor to replace the current pump with a larger pump that is capable of pulling 350 LPM. EPA suggests that a bypass valve and mixing tee to be installed at a point downstream of the outlet of the XAD assembly. Using this bypass system, the total system flow (which if the sum of the sample and bypass flows) remains fixed. The bypass flow path allows room air to enter the system, flow through the bypass valve, and combine with the sample flow in the mixing tee. This bypass air, controlled by a fast acting bypass valve, shall indirectly control sample flow rate through the XAD module to provide flow control across the dynamic range of the instrument. The contractor shall comment on the feasibility of this approach and provide recommendations for a more cost effective method for meeting the performance specifications outlined below. The contractor shall provide a detailed recommendation of the hardware and software modifications required to meet EPA's sampling needs, and provide a detailed cost breakdown for this work. 2) The contractor shall modify or reconfigure the sample flow path to enable positioning and mounting of the sample probe in the exhaust stream of a light duty vehicle testing on a chassis dynamometer. All changes in the physical orientation of the TSS shall be designed to minimize the deposition or alteration of the sampled aerosol. a. The system shall be able to accommodate varying heights in tailpipe location due to the variability of this feature in light duty cars and trucks. The flexibility inherent in accommodating varying levels of sampling probe attachment height will make this system both vehicle-independent as well as test site-independent. 3) Validate sample proportionality over a light-duty UDDS vehicle test, an LA92 vehicle test, and a US06 vehicle test using the criteria established in 40CFR1065.545(a). The vehicle selected for validation testing shall be a vehicle selected from the LDT4 or MDPV weight categories. 4) The specifications for the current system indicate that the original components (solenoid valves and sample pump) were sized to accommodate an expected pressure drop in the system of 200 mBar. The contractor shall validate the system once any changes are made to verify that the pressure drop at full flow does not exceed the design specifications of any system components. 5) The contractor shall provide a written justification for each proposed modification to the existing system, including a detailed cost estimate for the modification of each component or subsystem. In each written justification, the contractor shall demonstrate the inadequacy of the current system or components therein to meet the new performance requirements outlined here. All remaining equipment specifications not mentioned above (heated line temperatures, chiller design, XAD module volume, etc) shall remain unchanged from the original TSS scope of work, and the contractor shall ensure that the proposed upgrade does not compromise the attainment of these specifications. The contractor shall comment on the need to upgrade additional components of the system not addressed here if failure to upgrade these opponents would result in improper operation, poor quality control, or otherwise limit the ability of the upgraded TSS system to meet the performance specifications of this performance work statement. This is not a request for proposal. However, any firm believing itself capable of meeting EPA's requirement may submit technical documentation to establish the potential of complying with the specifications. Such documentation must be submitted to the point of contact within 10 days of the posting of this notice. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered only for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement or to proceed on a sole source basis. The applicable NAICS code is 334516. Please submit your request in writing to David Boris at 26 W. Martin Luther King Dr, Cincinnati, OH, 45268 or fax your request to (513) 487-2109. No telephone requests will be honored.