Physics-Based Model to Quantify the Fire and Toxic Hazard of Li-Ion Batteries
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Solicitation details, issuing organization, response deadlines, documents, and interested companies for this government contract opportunity.
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The Federal Railroad Administration intends to award a sole source purchase order to Jensen Hughes, Inc. for the continuation of a physics-based modeling project aimed at quantifying the fire and toxic hazards of lithium-ion batteries used in rail systems. This effort builds upon Phase I work conducted under Contract 693JJ623C000004, which was competitively awarded through a 2023 Broad Agency Announcement to develop and validate computer models that predict heat release rates and toxic emissions from battery energy storage systems. The follow-on effort will use module-level test data generated by Jensen Hughes to calibrate and validate the model, with the ultimate goal of enabling the design of effective safety mitigation measures for rail applications. Administrative delays caused the initial contract to expire before Phase II could begin, interrupting research progress, and the sole source award is necessary to resume work without restarting the modeling process from scratch. Jensen Hughes is uniquely positioned to carry out this work due to its proprietary data, technical expertise, and existing model framework developed during the first phase. Awarding the contract to any other entity would result in significant duplication of costs and schedule delays. Although this is a presolicitation notice, interested parties may submit information demonstrating their capability to perform the work, but no competitive bidding will be conducted unless such submissions indicate a viable alternative exists. The response deadline for any submissions is July 18, 2026, at 12:00 PM EST, and all inquiries must be directed to KeriAnne Gallagher of the Department of Transportation. The project is classified under NAICS code 541715, and performance will take place in Baltimore, Maryland, with the issuing office located in Washington, D.C.
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Baltimore, MD, USASet-Aside
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Full Description
FR26RDI20000000066 Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract.
Pursuant to FAR 6.103-1 and inclusive of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) – FAR Part Deviation Guidance, The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) intends to negotiate a single-source purchase order with Jensen Hughes, Inc. (JH) for the development of a Physics-Based Model to quantify the Fire and Toxic Hazard of Li-Ion Batteries.
This research and development effort is a continuation of critical work begun under Contract 693JJ623C000004. The original contract was awarded using a competitive Broad Agency Announcement process in 2023, BAA-2023, Topic #FRA RS-001. The initial phase focused on developing and validating computer modeling tools to quantify the fire and toxicity hazards associated with Lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) utilized in rail applications. The ultimate intent of the model is to inform the design of mitigation measures that ensure BESS are safe for the rail environment.
The overall goal of the project is to establish a systematic methodology for determining the Heat Release Rate (HRR) of complex BESS using limited cell and module level testing. Cell-level battery test data, which JH generated under Phase I, defined the failure characteristics for the model. Under this follow-on effort, module-level test data will be utilized to calibrate and validate the model.
Due to administrative and governmental delays in the internal approval process, 693JJ623C000004 expired prior to the follow-on period being executed, halting JH’s research. The intent of this purchase order is to enable JH to resume the research and further develop and validate the computer model established during Phase I.
Jensen Hughes, Inc. is uniquely qualified to satisfy this requirement, as they possess the specialized data and technical continuity developed during the initial competitive award. Awarding this requirement to any other source would result in a duplication of cost to the FRA and delays in completing Phase II.
This notice is not to request competitive proposals, and any information received from interested parties will only be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether a competitive procurement should be conducted. However, interested parties may submit a description of their firm's capabilities to satisfy this requirement, demonstrating their ability to successfully perform this effort.
Responses must be received by July 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM EST. All questions concerning this matter should be addressed directly to Ms. KeriAnne Gallagher at kerianne.gallagher@dot.gov.