The closing date for this BAA has been updated. The new closing date for this BAA is 2/29/2016. No other changes have been made. *************************************************************** 1. Background The ability to store large amounts of energy safely and efficiently is critical to meet the growing power needs of more electric aircraft. This research activity is needed in order to understand the safety aspects of high electrical energy density storage devices, Lithium (Li) battery technology, and to develop new regulatory requirements to support this technology. Recent in-service aircraft have suffered several highly visible battery failures during this development and early service life. These were the largest Li batteries to date, and ran into trouble while in use aboard a small, young fleet of airplanes. Together these led to temporary grounding of the aircraft type, an expensive redesign and repair to restore and retain our expected level of safety, and an extensive toll on resources during the recovery. More airplane designs using similar Li battery systems are in certification and in design now. Lessons learned during the investigation include: there has been no usage of reduced-flammable electrolytes in Li batteries, existing standards are difficult to comply with, and such standards need to be applied to all batteries and electrical storage devices for aerospace use. The main safety issue with Li battery systems is a failure mode called thermal runaway. Thermal runaway in a lithium cell occurs when internal heating is greater than the rate at which heat leaves, resulting in the runaway of internal temperature rise. Lithium Ion cells can produce their own oxygen and employ an electrolyte that is highly reactive and flammable making thermal runaway a common occurrence under multiple conditions. The public and Congress possess an extremely high expectation of the safety of new and novel systems, for which they hold the FAA responsible. To meet the expectations of congress and the flying public the FAA is required to investigate and provide data on new and novel ways to reduce hazards of electrical energy storage devices installed on aircraft. 2. Purpose The purpose of this BAA is to study and develop technology, and supporting data for industry standards to reduce the risks associated with the installation, operation, in-service maintenance of Lithium Batteries and other high electrical energy storage devices of all sizes. This BAA is focused on electrical energy storage systems installed and used on aircraft. The Energy storage program is investigating the feasibility of new technologies such as less flammable electrolytes, methods to reduce the impact of thermal runway, the need for the development of an aerospace standard for high energy density battery cells. We also would like to investigate technology to implement using COTS battery cells and maintain or increase the current safety and reliability levels. Technology developed under this program should maintain or increase the safety of using high electrical energy storage devices on aircraft. This technology should provide faster reaction times, greater diagnostics abilities, and methods to achieve a better understanding of incident precursors as well as repair and maintenance techniques for the hardware necessary for the implementation of high electrical energy storage devices on aircraft. Finally the program is studying current guidelines, standards, and regulations related to electrical energy storage devices and develop a set of guidelines to improve, standardize, and system verification and validation. The program will ultimately include an implementation plan of these guidelines into a standard or specification using any accepted aviation governing bodies such as Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA), Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) or Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). This program will explore techniques that focus on improving aircraft reliability, safety, reducing maintenance and unscheduled downtime with the implementation of high electrical energy storage devices. 3. Submission Deadlines Technical summary proposals (see section 4) prepared in accordance with this synopsis will be accepted through TBD or until fiscal year 2016 funding for this effort is committed, whichever occurs first. Upon request of the FAA, formal technical proposals shall be submitted not more than thirty days after the date of the request. This request will be made via email and letter. 4. Submission Requirements This BAA is an expression of interest only and does not commit the Government to make an award. The FAA will not pay for any information received or for costs incurred in preparing the response to this BAA Announcement. Any costs associated with the BAA Announcement submittal are solely at the interested vendor’s expense. All foreign owned companies are subject to forging disclosure review procedures. Only a Contracting Officer (CO) can legally authorize any expenditure or commitment by the US Government. No work is to begin without written authorization from the CO. Offerors will submit two-page technical summaries prior to submitting a formal proposal. The two page technical summary shall meet the requirements described below. Mail the two page technical summaries to: William J. Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City Int’l Airport Atlantic City, NJ 08405 Attn: Mike. Walz; AJP6362 In addition (not as a substitute for the paper copy), an electronic version of the summary proposal will be emailed to
[email protected]. An electronic version must also be emailed to
[email protected]. The electronic version must be provided in Microsoft Word or PDF format. Multiple technical proposals may be submitted by the offeror addressing different aspects of the requested research covered under this announcement. Within thirty days after receipt of the two-page technical summaries, the FAA will respond to offerors in one of three ways: a. With a request for the submission of a formal technical proposal; b. With a recommendation to submit a formal technical proposal if certain changes are made or conditions met; or, c. With a letter requesting no further input on the proposed system, technology, or technique. 5. Two-Page Technical Summary Requirements There is no specific format for the two page technical summary. The summary may be preceded by a cover letter, but the cover letter will not be considered in the evaluation and will not be counted in the page count. Though there is no specific format, at a minimum the summary shall contain the following items: a. The specific purpose of the system, technology, or technique; b. A description of the system, technology, or technique; c. A description of the class of applications for which the device is useful; d. A description of how the device might be useful to the aviation community; e. Information regarding interest, endorsements or partners in aviation; f. The current state of development of the system, technology, or technique; g. The estimated time it would take to develop a commercial prototype; and, h. The estimated funds required for the proposed effort. 6. Formal Proposal Requirements If the offeror elects to submit a formal technical proposal, it must contain a more detailed discussion of the item presented in the two-page technical summary and meet the specific project requirements as described below. The formal technical proposal will be mailed to the CO at the following address: William J. Hughes Technical Center Atlantic City International Airport Atlantic City, NJ 08405 Attn: Karen Mercer; AAQ-610 An electronic copy must also be provided to
[email protected] a. Any patented or proprietary technical procedures or data sensitive to the company’s commercial standing used in response to this announcement must be clearly identified. b. The offerors must specify a plan into research and development of high electrical energy storage devices and maintain or improve current safety levels. c. The offeror must identify which and how, aircraft system(s), operator, maintainer or regulator will benefit from the proposed technology d. Determine the requirements and an aerospace high electrical energy density battery cell. Determine proper testing to prevent or mitigate thermal runaway. Identify any known certification issues that will need to be addressed and provide recommendations e. The offerors proposals must contain specific and detailed outline of the work proposed to encompass the requirements stated in this BAA. Proposals may contain multiple areas of research which will be evaluated using the evaluation criteria described. f. Offerors must prepare an implementation and technology transfer plan, describing how the research technology will be implemented into commercial aviation products. g. The proposal must identify all areas of risk related to development, implementation, and technology transfer, of the proposed system, technology, or technique. The proposal must include mitigating strategies for each risk area. Proposals that do not identify risk areas will be considered non-developmental in nature and therefore outside the scope of this research program. Implementation risks are associated with logistical issues, missing/inadequate support infrastructure, etc. h. Offerors must include in their proposals a detailed cost or price proposal. Applicable in-house funding, cost matching, services-in-kind, will be identified in the cost proposal. 7. Method of Evaluation The Government reserves the right to award a contract for all, any part, or none of the responses received from this BAA. No contract award will be made unless the appropriate type of funding is available. Proposals will be evaluated in the following technical areas listed in order of decreasing importance: A. Utility and benefit to the aviation community - The proposal must show the benefits of the proposed technology to the aviation community. This element will be evaluated on the following points, listed in descending order of importance: 1. Show that the technology will maintain or increase aircraft safety. 2. The technology will provide significant improvements in one or more of the following categories: • Reduce Thermal runaway • Mitigate or eliminate high energy release, • Contain a thermal runaway or other catastrophic energy storage event • Monitor and maintain energy storage while preventing a catastrophic energy release event 3. The technology will simplify the cockpits/aircraft workload in normal and abnormal operations. 4. The technology must support and define changes to current certification policies. B. Technical merit - The proposal shall show the offeror's knowledge and understanding of aircraft systems, electrical energy storage technology, and aerospace regulations and standards. The proposal shall contain a detailed technical discussion of the technical approach. This element will be evaluated on the following points, listed in descending order of importance: 1. An understanding high energy release events and how to mitigate and reduce the impact of the event 2. An understanding of COTS battery cells and how to mitigate the variation safely in an aerospace battery system. 3. An understanding of electrochemical energy storage and the impact of chemistry changes on battery cell performance. 4. An understanding of current and upcoming electrical energy storage technologies and systems and their regulatory requirements for implementation. 5. An understanding of aircraft environmental and certification requirements for electrical energy storage devices The offeror shall describe how the proposed system, technology, or technique, will be utilized by the aviation community and the compatibility of the system, technology, or technique, with current operating and maintenance processes. Infrastructure or process changes necessary to support the proposed system, technology, or technique shall be described in detail. Endorsement(s) of an aviation partner(s) will be considered an indication of the commercial viability of the system, technology, or technique. C. Investigative team competency and experience - The proposal shall contain the education level; experience, both general and project related; and the availability of sufficient key project professional and technical personnel; as evidenced by resumes provided. Documentation of past performance, both positive and negative, in executing work of this type must also be included. D. Logical and effective validation strategy – The proposal shall describe a scientific approach to validating the proposed system, technology, or technique. This will include validation. Specific performance requirements to be validated shall be included in the proposal. Proposals not providing specific performance requirements for validation will be considered non-responsive and rejected in accordance with this plan. E. Value to the FAA and Cost Sharing – The proposal shall contain any cost sharing or special partnerships i.e. with operators, manufactures or other government agencies that would provide value to the proposal. All cost sharing information will be evaluated by its value to the FAA in meeting the research requirements. Proposals that do not contain cost sharing or advantageous partnerships will still be considered on total value to FAA with cost benefit. F. Technical risk and implementation risk and an effective risk mitigation plan for each - The proposal shall describe potential areas and degree of technical risk associated with the proposed research effort and the implementation risk related to the eventual technology transfer and fielding of the system, technology, or technique. For each risk area, the offeror shall describe plans for risk mitigation, and provide data to support the probability that the proposed method will accomplish the performance objectives. G. Availability and quality of equipment and facilities - The proposal shall indicate the location and availability of, or the ability to obtain, the necessary equipment and facilities to perform this effort. H. Effective project management plan - The proposal shall provide a realistic and organized plan for accomplishing the effort of the proposal within the proposed time goals, as evidenced by project separation into a viable schedule including discrete project tasks and milestones. Potential impact of technical risks on scheduled tasks and milestones shall be identified. The proposal shall identify any in-house funding, cost matching, and cost leverage that will provide added benefit and further advancement to the research program. Cost realism will be evaluated as acceptable or unacceptable only. Acceptable proposals will have costs commensurate with the work load proposed and will not be in excess of $300K in any fiscal year. 8. Period of Performance: Efforts lasting up to three years will be considered. Continued efforts are optional, at the discretion of the Government, based on performance. Each project will be evaluated for measurable and adequate performance prior to exercising the option and providing additional funding. All projects will be funded annually, subject to availability of funds. If you're viewing this announcement from a source other than Federal Aviation Administration Contract Opportunities (FAACO), visit https://faaco.faa.gov/index.cfm/announcement/view/23363 to view the original announcement.