Optical Particle Analyzer (OPA)

1.        Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2.        Definition of the requirement

o        The National Research Council Canada (NRC) has a requirement for the supply, delivery, and installation of one (1 quantity) Optical Particle Analyzer (OPA) to facilitate the powder synthesis activities at Mississauga-CEI.

The OPA, must allow analysis of powders in both in-situ and ex-situ configurations.

3.        Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements)

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that its product/equipment/system (as appropriate) meets the following requirements:

o        Must allow analysis of powders in both in-situ (i.e., as the powder is discharged from the inductively coupled plasma system, TEK-15 by TEKNA) and ex-situ (i.e., stand-alone instrument) configurations.

o        Must use shadow imaging or direct imaging techniques.

o        Must include optical sensor (camera and backlight), data/image acquisition.

o        Must include a processing unit (computer), and screen for data monitoring (monitor). The system must include a storage for at least 8TB.

o        Must include data transfer and saving on to localized hard drive of PC, and to network share through Ethernet cable.

o        Must capture and analyze powders with a particle size distribution ranging at a minimum from 5 µm to 500 µm. Must be able to also measure sprays (powder or liquid) with a particle size distribution ranging at a minimum from 5 µm to 500 µm. Must allow for outlining particles in image and analysis of particle morphological features including at least sphericity, roundness, and projected area.

o        Must be able to capture and analyze particles/droplets traveling at speeds up to 50 m/s or greater.

o        Must be able to do real time measurement/analysis and provide real-time statistics on powder size and morphology (sphericity and roundness) with maximum 1 second delay. The software package for real-time image analysis and statistics must be included.

o        Must have a minimum frame per second (fps) of 200.

o        The optical sensor (excluding computer/monitor) must be easily moveable, i.e. must weigh less than 23 kg, and must have dimensions not exceeding these limits: width 1000 mm, depth 720 mm, height 500 mm.

o        Must allow to adjust the distance between the camera and object in both in-situ and ex-situ configurations.

o        Must be remotely accessible and controllable, i.e. the operator should be able to access the sensor and the data through network connection to the equipment via Ethernet cable in order to control the sensor and to manage the data.

o        The software must allow for real-time image output and data output in commonly used formats (PNG, TIFF, JPG) and (CSV, Excel), respectively. The computer and software must allow for real-time data transfer through USB port/s.

o        All electrical equipment supplied under the Contract must be certified or approved for use in accordance with the Canadian Electrical Code, Part 1, before delivery, by a certification organization accredited by the Standards Council of Canada and use 1-phase, 110-240 V (20 A max.) power supply at 50/60 Hz.

o        Must have a control interface in English language.

o        Must include all cables and ports for power supply to and communication between different units, i.e. camera, back-light, data-acquisition/processing unit, and screen.

o        Must be installed on a skid with wheels for convenient transportation of OPA. The skid’s overall dimensions and weight (including the OPA) should not exceed these limits, respectively: width 1200 mm, depth 1000 mm, height 1500 mm, and weight 80 kg.

4.        Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement:

o        Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)

5.        Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier

The pre-identified supplier owns the exclusive ownership of, and rights to use, the intellectual property (IP) for the Optical Particle Analyzer (OPA) that can be integrated it into our plasma system (TEK-15) for in-situ powder analysis

In order to integrate the OPA into our existing plasma system for in-situ powder characterization, the OPA must be able to host a sight glass, which is located at the end of the TEK-15 plasma system, between its two optical units: camera and back-light. The pre-identified OPA is the only commercial system that can offer this flexibility. This is due to the fact that the camera and back light are not contained in an enclosure. In the pre-identified OPA, the camera and backlight are located at the end of two arms, and can be placed on the opposite sides of the sight glass. In this case the backlight will shine the particles and the camera will take the images of the particle shadows (shadowgrams). The corresponding patent number is US20240402067A1.

It is worth mentioning that, the OPA can and will be also used for ex-situ powder characterization. This will allow to nail two objectives (in-situ and ex-situ characterization) with one equipment. The capability of the system to perform ex-situ analysis of powder and spray particles, is evident in the second patent (WO2024007080A1).

6.        Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s)

The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d) – “only one person is capable of performing the work”

7.        Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons

The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the:

a.        Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) – Article 513 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;

8.        Period of the proposed contract or delivery date

o        The OPA is estimated to be delivered within 16 weeks of contract award.

9.        Name and address of the pre-identified supplier

Mazlite Inc.

Bay Adelaide Centre, 333

Bay st #2400, Toronto, ON

M5H 2T6

10.        Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

11.        Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities

The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is July 18th 2025.

12.        Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:

Jonathan Soles

Telephone: 343-548-9258

E-mail: Jonathan.Soles@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

A contracting officer can use limited tendering for specific reasons outlined in the applicable trade agreements. The reason for this contract is described below:

• Exclusive Rights