National Institute of Standards & Technology, Acquisition & Assistance Div., Bldg. 301, Rm B117, Gaithersburg, MD 20899

66 -- CONTINUOUS-FLOW INTERFACE FOR ISOTOPE RATIO MASS SPECTROMETER SOL 53SBNB860013 DUE 022798 POC Teresa A. Reefe, Contract Specialist, (301) 975-6364 WEB: NIST Contracts Homepage, http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/contract.htm. E-MAIL: NIST Contracts Office, Contract@nist.gov. THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6, AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTES ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. This solicitation is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ No. 53SBNB860013). The solicitation clauses and provisions are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-03. This requirement is unrestricted. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST's) Surface and Microanalysis Science Division has a requirement for a Continuous-Flow Interface for an Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer. A system is required to undertake fully automated high precision isotopic analysis of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen at natural abundance levels from chromatographically resolved chemical species. The system must consist of an advanced gas chromatograph (GC), a combustion interface with multiple reference gas injection ports, and integrate fully with an existing Finnigan MAT 252 isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS). The system must include software that can integrate control of the GC, the interface, the IRMS, and the measurement data. The area footprint for this system (not including the IRMS or computer) must be no greater than 3 ft by 4 ft (0.9 m by 1.2 m). The combustion interface must be operable at 1000 degrees Celsius and be regenerated in-situ without disassembly. Methane combustion to carbon dioxide must be quantitative better than 99.5%. Removal of water of combustion must be accomplished by permeable membrane. Repeatability of delta-C-13 values for 0.8 nmol carbon replicates shall be less than 0.02%, relative sigma. The contractor shall deliver all line items FOB Destination, 90 days after purchase order award at NIST, Building 301, Shipping and Receiving, Gaithersburg, MD 20899. The provisions at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial, applies to this acquisition. The provision at 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. The Government will award a purchase order resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: 1) Technical performance in meeting or exceeding the performance and physical specifications; and 2) Price. Technical performance is significantly more important than price. The clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. The clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition, including subparagraphs (6) 52.222-26, (7) 52.222-35, (8) 52.222-36, (9) 52.222-37, (10) 52.225-3, (13) 52.225-18, (15) 52.225-21, and Department of Commerce Agency-Level Protest Procedures Level Above the Contracting Officer, which can be downloaded from the NIST Web Page located at http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/protest.htm. All offerors shall submit the following: 1) Quote which addresses line item 0001 B Continuous-Flow Interface for Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer; 2) technical description and/or product literature; 3) description of commercial warranty; 4) two copies of the most recent published price list; and 4) one completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items which may be downloaded from http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/repcert.htm. All offers should be sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Acquisition and Assistance Division, Building 301, Room B117, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-0001. Faxed offers will be accepted at (301) 975-5007. For information, call the POC identified above. Submission must be received by 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on February 27, 1998. (0044)

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