Nitrogen Recharger Refurbishment/Modification

7/20/2023 - UPDATE NASA KSC hereby releases a draft Statement of Work (SOW) for the subject sources sought. Interested parties may submit questions or comments to the Contracting Officer no later than 4:30 PM EST August 2, 2023. ______________________________________________________________ 7/13/2023--UPDATE This notice advises interested parties that the government will conduct a site visit/one-on-one meetings with interested parties on July 27, 2023 and July 28, 2023. The purpose of these site visit/one-on-one meetings is to provide an opportunity for interested parties to provide recommendations regarding requirement strategy and to enhance the Government's understanding of industry feedback and capabilities. Respondents may ask questions during the site visit/one-on-one meetings; however, all questions received and information provided by the Government will be made available to all interested parties via https://sam.gov/. The Government invites interested parties to contact the contracting officer at Brenda.L.Teachworth@nasa.gov no later than July 21, 2023, to schedule a site visit/one-on-one meeting. Meetings will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EDT on July 27 and July 28, 2023 and are limited to four people per interested party. Meetings will not exceed 120 minutes in length. You are requested to provide the names of each individual who will attend, their company affiliation, and position or title when requesting a site visit/one-on-one meeting. The government anticipates release a draft Statement of Work (SOW) on or about July 21, 2023. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor this website for the release of the draft SOW (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the draft SOW, if any. ________________________________________________________________ 6/16/2023 - UPDATE National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) hereby releases responses to industry questions. ________________________________________________________________ THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. NO PROPOSALS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is hereby issuing a Request for Information (RFI) for the purpose of seeking sources and soliciting information from private industry on improving reliability of mobile nitrogen units utilized at KSC. The goal would be to obtain this capability from commercial entities that are able to provide a viable service. This document is for information and planning purposes only and also to allow industry the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirement, as well as promote competition. This RFI is used solely for information planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation or as a commitment by the Government nor will the Government pay for information solicited. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The Government is under no obligation to issue a solicitation or to award any contract on the basis of this RFI. The information provided in the responses to this RFI will not be made public in an effort to protect any propriety company information. Nonetheless, respondents should clearly and properly mark any propriety or restricted data contained within its submission so it can be identified and protected. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Responses to this RFI will not be returned, and respondents will not be notified of the result of the review. NASA at KSC utilizes mobile nitrogen pumping units, herein referred to as rechargers, to support a wide range of spacecraft and launch vehicle processing as well as launch vehicle operations. NASA is seeking information on how to improve reliability for the rechargers when operated at high pressure and high flow rates for extended periods of time. The rechargers operate reliably when utilized for small or medium pressure vessel refill operations. Under these operations flow rates are typically in the 1,000 - 1,500 standard cubic feet per minute (scfm) range at pressures ranging from 2,400 pounds per square inch gauge (psig) up to 10,000 psig. The rechargers have been subject to significant failures when utilized for long duration pipeline operations. The pipeline operations utilize flow rates in the 5,000 - 10,000 scfm range at pressures of about 6,000 psig. NASA is interested in exploring a wide range of options to improve reliability for high pressure and high flow rate operations. NASA encourages vendors to review documentation including operating and maintenance procedures, to review and understand NASA's concept of operations for the rechargers, and to physically examine the rechargers via a site visit at KSC, if offered. NASA will consider and review any proposed changes including, but not limited to, hardware and software modifications, upgrades, or refurbishment, changes to operating procedures or maintenance activities, or changing the concept of operations to replace or include other equipment that industry may deem viable. NASA's primary goal is to improve reliability for pipeline operations. Ideally, the primary goal is to be achieved with minimal modification to the rechargers. Potential vendors should review all documents; a summary of the information is as follows: Description of Equipment: The R-18 and R-19 rechargers (manufactured by CS & P Technologies LP) are designed to convert liquid nitrogen (LN2) to gaseous nitrogen (GN2). The rechargers are utilized for charging fixed, portable, and movable compressed gas storage batteries, and as a contingency GN2 source to supply GN2 to the cross-country pipeline when the main GN2 supply source is inoperable. The mobile nitrogen recharger is a self-contained unit used for vaporizing LN2 into GN2 at approximately 70 - F. The system is capable of delivering up to 12,000 scfm of GN2 at an output pressure less than 6,000 psig. The high-pressure pump pistons have a 10,000 psig maximum, and the recharger will auto shut down if the discharge pressure exceeds 10,000 psig. The flowrate at 10,000 psig is reduced to < 4,000 scfm due to the increase in pressure. The LN2 storage tank provides LN2 to the boost pump at approximately 10-30 psig LN2 pressure. The boost pump supplies low-pressure LN2 (80-120 psig) to the high-pressure pump. The low pressure LN2 is then pressurized to 10,000 psig and turned into gas in a direct fired vaporizer that utilizes heat energy from the combustion of diesel fuel and high-speed ambient air. The unit is equipped with an auxiliary engine that provides power to the vaporizer hydraulics, boost pump hydraulics, lube and hydraulic cooler fans, high-pressure diesel pump, and the warm end lubrication pump. The main engine (road engine) is equipped with a power take off (PTO) transfer box, which is manually operated to turn on or turn off the LN2 high-pressure pump. Safe and simple operation of the recharger is made possible by monitoring equipment, switches, and gauges located on the control panel. The panel is part of the operator's console and is located on the road (driver's) side of the recharger. The system is monitored by the Master Display Module (MDM) Parker-Hannifin hydraulic computer and automatic valves are controlled through the Control Technology Corporation (CTC) human interface display. The auxiliary deck engine starting, system engagement, monitoring, and shutdown are also located on the control panel. All LN2 and GN2 valves are labeled for identification and strategically located for ease of operation. The high-pressure pump, direct fired vaporizer, control panel, and auxiliary engine are part of one of two removable, reinforced modules directly mounted to the truck chassis. The second module consists of a 2,000-gallon dewar, all valves, boost pump, and drip pan. Concept of Operations: 1. - Milk Run Operations: Routine operations where rechargers are driven to a variety of locations throughout KSC and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The locations have a wide range of mobile storage units (MSUs) which are fixed location pressure vessels ranging from 2,400 psig up to 10,000 psig. Water volumes of the MSUs range from approximately 125 cubic feet up to 300 cubic feet. Flow rates for refilling range from 1,000 - 1,500 scfm. Milk run operations account for an overwhelming majority of rechargers operations. 2. - Pipeline Operations: Non-routine operations where the rechargers tie-in to a fixed pipeline system. The pipeline system runs throughout KSC and CCSFS. The rechargers are used in the event the primary systems for the pipeline are unavailable. The pipeline support could be, and has been, used to support launch operations. Usage during launch operations put the rechargers into simultaneous high pressure and high flow usage, for several continuous hours. The pressures are in the 6,000 to 6,500 psig range with flow rates at 5,000 - 10,000 scfm. Over the past few years, these operations have led to significant failures of the rechargers, making them unavailable for use until costly repairs are made. Although the pipeline usage is rare, supporting launch operations is of high criticality. Please provide recommendations for the following. Additional information is attached to assist in determining appropriate responses. The Vendor should indicate if operating procedures could be a source of failures. The Vendor should indicate if maintenance procedures, whether scope or frequency, could be a source of failures. The Vendor should indicate what hardware and/or software or controls modifications could be made to improve reliability. The Vendor should indicate if improved reliability could be attained for the pipeline operations while maintaining reliable milk run operations. For a proposed change, the Vendor should indicate the downtime the equipment would experience while modifications or refurbishment activities are underway. The Vendor should indicate if modifications or refurbishment are required to be performed at an offsite location or if they can be performed at KSC. The Vendor should explain any other proposed methods/capabilities they feel would meet or closely compare to the NASA goals based on their expertise/experience. Cost: Although not mandatory for responding to this RFI, the Vendor may optionally provide a Random Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimate for this effort that can be used to develop budgetary forecasting. This information will be secured as proprietary information and not retained as a quote or for any potential procurement that may or may not be realized in the future. (Note: The attachment that includes this information does not count against the total page limitation). Although not required for responding to this RFI, the vendor may optionally provide details on any previous qualification efforts or reports pertaining to any or all nitrogen recharger capabilities they have provided for similar applications. This may include any tests, analyses, certifications, or specific history pertaining to nitrogen rechargers. (Note: The attachment that includes this information does not count against the total page limitation). Vendors having the capabilities necessary to meet or exceed the stated requirements are invited to submit appropriate documentation, literature, brochures, and references. NASA/KSC is requesting input from all interested parties, including all socioeconomic categories of Small Businesses and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority Institutions (MI), and members of the underserved communities as defined by Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity And Support For Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government, for the purposes of determining the appropriate level of competition and/or small business subcontracting goals. The Government reserves the right to consider a Small, 8(a), Women-owned (WOSB), Service Disabled Veteran (SD-VOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-owned Small Business (EDWOSB) or HUBZone business set-aside based on responses received. The vendor will be required to submit documentation demonstrating their Company's core competencies (skill, knowledge, expertise, and vessels) and brief examples of past performance providing similar services. Response to the RFI shall be limited to no more than 20 pages. Responses must include the following: company's name, address, and a point of contact (name, e-mail address, and address); Unique Entity ID and CAGE code; number of years in business; annual receipts in accordance with 13 CFR 121.104(c) and the period of measurement used; company's size and socioeconomic status under NAICS code 333914; ownership, affiliate information (as applicable) including parent company and joint venture partners; interest as a prime or subcontractor; and list of customers covering the past three years (highlight relevant work performed, contract numbers, contract type, dollar value of each procurement; and point of contact - address and phone number). The requirements outlined within this request are intended to be met by commercial services. A commercial service is defined in FAR 2.101. In addition to the information the responder chooses to provide, each RFI response shall include a cover sheet with the following information (which does not count against the total page limitation): 1. RFI Solicitation Number and Title. 2. Responding Organization (including address, POC and phone number). 3. A brief synopsis of the RFI response in less than 20 words. 4. Section number your response is addressing. 5. Whether your company would consider it beneficial to have a site visit. All responses to this RFI shall be submitted electronically via email to Brenda Teachworth, Brenda.L.Teachworth@nasa.gov, no later than 4:30 PM EST June 23, 2023. The response may be sent as a single Microsoft Word .doc and/or Portable Document Format .pdf file for each response. Please reference RFI number NNK23ZOS002L in any response. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on SAM.gov. Interested firms are responsible for monitoring this website for the release of potential site visit information or amendments to the above information (if any) and any potential solicitation or synopsis. NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition is: Burton R. Summerfield, Associate Director, Management, burton.r.summerfield@nasa.gov, 321-867-4598.