THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE FOR THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD (USCG) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER (RDC) IN GROTON, CT. This Request For Information (RFI) is part of a market research effort to assess industry capabilities that will best address the USCG's needs. The USCG RDC is chartered to conduct research, development, testing and evaluation activities. The USCG RDC is seeking sources capable of providing systems to improve emergency assessment and recovery actions in response to spills of nonfloating oils. These actions are divided into five phases, as outlined below. All potential systems have to be able to address these requirements, as appropriate: a) rapid mobilization to the oil spill site; b) rapid data turnaround (hours to 1 day); c) performance under poor water visibility conditions; and d) ability to work under widely varying conditions of oil thickness, distribution and environmental conditions. 1) Detection of Oil Suspended in the Water Column - Depending on the oil density and currents, nonfloating oil can suspend in the water column and be transported long distances by riverine and tidal currents. Response capability needs include detecting the presence of oil suspended as droplets varying in size from 0.1 mm to 10 cm, identifying where in the water column the oil is suspended, determining distribution of relative concentrations and detecting oil in both clear and turbid water. Lower detection limits are important to document because of varying thresholds of concern, depending on spill conditions. Methods should be able to discriminate against other contaminants that may cause false positives. Airborne sensors are of particular interest because of their rapid and synoptic data collection capabilities; however, vessel-deployed systems are also sought. 2) Detection of Oil on the Bottom - Systems to improve mapping of sunken oil on the seafloor are sought in the following areas: a) Underwater video systems - Improved performance under poor visibility conditions, deployment configurations to optimize data collection, and automated data processing methods to interpret the results and quantify the amount of oil present; b) Acoustic systems - A systematic assessment of acoustic systems is needed to identify the conditions under which they are likely to be effective for detection of submerged oil on the bottom, and how the technology might be improved to increase their overall performance, including system configuration, operating conditions, and data processing methods to speed production of data products to support decision-making; c) Airborne remote sensing technologies that can penetrate the surface of the water - These systems have not been used at any spill of submerged oil because little is known about their potential effectiveness at detecting oil on the seafloor under different conditions of water depth, turbidity, bottom type, oil thickness and percent cover and d) Adapting above-water existing sensors to underwater deployment. All approaches should address issues with integration in the deployment platforms, i.e. aircraft, vessel, submarine, etc. 3) Containment of Suspended Oil/Protection of Water Intakes - Technologies are needed to contain, divert, or exclude oil suspended into the water column during a spill response. Similarly, improved technologies and engineering guidelines for deployment of systems that will protect water intakes (including powerplants, municipal water supplies, etc.) during spills where oil becomes suspended in the water column are sought. Site conditions often include water currents of 0.5-2 knots, water depths up to 50 feet, and offshore-based deployment. Methods used in past spills include filter fences and air bubble curtains, however, effectiveness has been limited. Information is sought on temporary systems that can be deployed on an emergency basis rather than permanently constructed systems at a facility. 4) Containment of Submerged Oil on the Bottom - The only successful containment of oil on the bottom has occurred naturally, where the oil accumulated in low-flow zones or existing depressions on its own. Thus, innovative ideas are sought on systems and deployment strategies to prevent the spread of oil on the bottom. Spreading occurs when the oil is remobilized by bottom currents, so system designs will have to consider water flow patterns around or through containment structures. Such strategies, where the sunken oil can or is moving, could be similar to the concept of using booms to divert floating oil to recovery devices. 5) Recovery of Submerged Oil on the Bottom - Recovery of submerged oil on the bottom requires multiple systems for picking up the oil, separating the oil, water, and sediments, and treating the waste streams. Innovative solutions are sought for the following components of recovery operations: a) Methods to increase the oil recovery rates of diver-directed pumping on the seafloor; these can include systems that would allow a diver to direct larger vacuum systems underwater, such as powered sleds that could handle larger hoses and have a mechanism to concentrate the oil towards the nozzle; b) Methods to reduce the amount of water intake during underwater pumping of viscous oils; c) Design of remotely operated recovery systems for conditions where diver-directed systems are not safe or efficient; d) Identification of types of existing dredges that would be most useful and what modifications can be quickly made to improve their performance, including innovative dredge head modifications; as with other pumping systems, a particular need is to develop methods to reduce the amount of water and sediment collected during dredging operations; and e) Guidelines and calculation tools that consider oil type, droplet size, flow rates, etc. to improve decanting systems NOTE: Actual proposals are not being solicited at this time for the above requirement. Statements addressing the above capability areas shall be limited to three (3) pages. The statements must include: A) Description of concept including: 1) an overview of the theory, the equipment needed to implement it, the operating method, and conditions of operation, including addressing items a-c listed in the first paragraph of this document. 2) general approach to concept; development including identifying off-the-shelf equipment and equipment to be developed, 3) timeline and rough order-of-magnitude costs, 4) support needs from outside resources (e.g., vessel, aircraft, electrical power, etc.), and 5) any knowledge of previous experience/attempts at this approach and references; B) Any proposed testing methods; C) Any partners; D) Any direct or indirect experience with these issues. The report entitled "Assessment and Recovery of Submerged Oil: Current State Analysis" provides general information on this subject and can be accessed at http://www.rdc.uscg.gov/reports/products/submerged%20oil%20report.pdf Responses to this market survey shall be sent directly to:
[email protected] with a copy to
[email protected]. Only electronic responses will be accepted and shall be submitted no later than September 30, 2006. The NAICS code for this RFI is 541710. Please identify if you are a Small or Large Business. PHONE CALLS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AND MESSAGES LEFT WILL NOT BE RETURNED.