Direct Combustion Mercury Analyzer

This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response. This Notice is to assist the government in determining if there are any domestic manufactured end product sources for the project title. This is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition.

NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information.

NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper.

Requirement: NIST is seeking information on contractors who provide the following:

System Requirements: • Must be a benchtop direct combustion mercury analyzer that measures total mercury (Hg) through integrated sample drying, thermal decomposition, amalgamation, and atomic absorbance spectrometry. • Must be capable of measuring total Hg in solid samples (fresh frozen, dried, or freeze-dried) and liquid samples containing up to 20 % acid. • Must be able to analyze samples directly in weigh boats with no sample preparation or digestion required. • Must include weigh boats for solid samples and liquid samples that are made of a material that can accommodate these diverse matrices and withstand up to 20 % acid without compromising the weigh boat integrity. • Must have a weighing stand to hold sample boats on balance for capturing sample mass. • Must have a lower working range limit less than or equal to 0.01 ng Hg and upper working range limit greater than or equal to 1500 ng Hg. • Must have a method detection limit less than or equal to 0.001 ng Hg. • Must have precision less than or equal to 1.5 % at 10 ng Hg. • Must be able to auto blank to minimum Hg threshold set by operator when measuring high level Hg samples before moving to the next sample for measurement. • Must have ability to pre-concentration of multiple low level Hg samples before releasing Hg from amalgamator for detection. • Must have an integrated autosampler that can hold a minimum of 40 sample weigh boats. • Must have autosampler that is enclosed or covered to protect samples. • Must be able to analyze an individual sample in approximately 5 minutes. • Must be able to use a carrier gas of high purity oxygen. • Must have an exhaust outlet that can connect to an Hg trap or exhaust hose into fume snorkel. • Must be able to utilize a 110v power supply. • Must include an external laptop to control the instrument and connection cables. • Must include spare consumables kit with catalyst tube and amalgamator. • Must include a 4-place balance (0.1 mg readability; at least 220 g maximum capacity; full enclosure) with connection cables that can interface with the instrument to capture sample masses in instrument software.

NIST anticipates issuing a Request for Quotation in the fourth quarter of FY24 and is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing with a small business size standard of 1000 Employees. Please include your company’s size classification, socio-economic status, and the country of origin of the manufactured end product in any response to this notice.