B--Environmental Fate of Nano-Scale Particles (UC)

Commercial Items, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with the University of Cincinnati?s Environmental Engineering Laboratories, Cincinnati, Ohio to purchase services to conduct a comparative study of Natural Materials with Engineered Nano-Particles for the Office of Research and Development/National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) Cincinnati Ohio.EPA/NRMRL is looking to study the fate and transport of nano-particles in soil systems and how the presence of these nano-particles influence contaminant transports and soil remediation technologies. EPA will focus this research on comparing nano-particles occurring naturally with engineered ones based on their mobility in soil systems, aggregation and dissolution to increase the understanding on the fate of nano-particles. EPA intends to use materials such as silica as a model for naturally occurring nano-materials, whereas titania and iron oxide for engineered particles having varying reactive properties. The mobility of nano-particles through porous media and their tendency to aggregate or agglomerate to form larger macro-scale particles will be evaluated under different conditions. EPA will study the influence of accumulated nano-materials on contaminants mobility and soil remediation technologies such as encapsulation techniques. A. MINIMUM GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS: The contractor shall have the facility and expertise in measuring the fate and movement of environmentally persistent contaminant in soil. The equipment for the comparative study of Natural Materials with Engineered Nano-Particles include: - Experimental system will be built to simulate ground water and nano-particles movement. The system will allow varying process variables and sample collections from various points in the process. - Analytical system for the Characterization of the particles: number, size and concentration including particle size, surface area and pore size distribution apparatus for solid nano-particles, and imaging instruments such as electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. - pH and conductivity meters and analytical balances - Gas chromatography (GC) instruments with a wide variety of detectors (FID, ECD, ELCD, PID, and TCD) for analyzing a wide variety of volatile species. - Gas chromatograph/mass spectrometers (GC/MS) for specific compound determination in complex environmental samples. - High pressure liquid chromatographs (HPLC) with diode array detectors for analyzing nonvolatile compounds. - Chemical oxygen demand heating blocks and visible colorimeters for routine absorbance measurements. B. KEY FEATURES: A bench-scale and pilot-scale laboratory facilities to perform air, water, and wastewater treatment studies, a microelectrode laboratory for biofilm analysis, an aerosol and air quality laboratory, a gas pollution control laboratory, and a state-of-the-art computational laboratory with an integrated computer data acquisition system. The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) is 541711, size standard of 500. THIS NOTICE OF INTENT is not a request for competitive proposals. No solicitation document is available. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability of meeting EPA requirements by submitting technical documentation to William M. Yates, Contracting Officer, at the office identified above, by fax +1 (555) 000-0000 or by e-mail contact@example.gov. The technical documentation must establish that the instrument to be provided meets all requirements. Anticipated award date is September 15, 2008. Documentation must be submitted to William M Yates by 3:00 PM, August 22, 2008 in order to be considered by EPA. 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 solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement or to proceed on a sole source basis. Point of Contact for this requirement is William M Yates, Contracting Officer, at +1 (555) 000-0000, or via e-mail at contact@example.gov. Questions must be submitted in writing to William M Yates via Fax +1 (555) 000-0000 or via e-mail. Telephone queries will not be honored