Fuels and Combustion Technologies for Aerospace Propulsion

Notice of Contracting Action: The Fuels Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory, Propulsion Directorate, Turbine Engine Division intends to negotiate a sole-source procurement for "Fuels and Combustion Technologies for Aerospace Propulsion" to The University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) for a 6-year Cooperative Agreement. The sole-source determination has been made in accordance with 10 USC 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(1) "Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements" and DoD Grant and Agreement Regulations 37.400(b). Currently, UDRI is the only known source having the breadth and depth of technical experience and expertise for this program. The effort will be performed predominantly on-site at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The minimum requirements include: 1) Design, development, and demonstration of analytical, measurement, and diagnostic techniques, methods and equipment required to analyze and physically as well as chemically characterize conventional and advanced fuels and fuel/combustion additives 2) The investigation, development and demonstration of measurement and diagnostic equipment and techniques for the determination of fuel quality and the quantification of fuel contaminants (including biological species) and additives 3) The measurement and determination of physical and chemical characteristics of products of combustion and emissions in conventional and advanced combustors, augmentors and engines in laboratory, field and on-board scenarios. 4) Development of systems and methodologies to rapidly and efficiently analyze and characterize the chemical composition, quality, and properties of fuels, fuel contaminants, fuel additives and combustion emissions (gaseous and particulate). 5) Demonstration of systems and methodologies to investigate and develop an understanding of how fuel properties, fuel performance and combustion processes are affected by chemical composition, physical properties, quality and contamination of the fuel and additives. 6) The design, development, evaluation, and demonstration of improved and advanced fuels from conventional and non-conventional sources and technologies for legacy and advanced aerospace weapons systems including scramjets, combined-cycle, turbine based and rocket applications 7) The design, development, evaluation and demonstration of supporting fuel management, fuel safety, and fuel handling technologies for improved and advanced fuels for aircraft and ground aircraft support applications. 8) The design, development, fabrication and demonstration of equipment and methodologies for evaluating the performance of advanced fuels in fuel systems for advanced aerospace vehicles. 9) The design, development, fabrication and demonstration of equipment and methodologies for use in evaluating fuels from conventional and non-conventional sources and technologies to determine their suitability for advanced weapons systems - including combustion properties, fuel management and quality issues for both ground and flight fuel handling systems and fuel thermal management. 10) The demonstration and evaluation of the performance of conventional and non-conventional fuels in bench-, rig-, simulator- and full-scale engine and engine component demonstrations as well as evaluation of these fuels full scale engine flight tests 11) The evaluation of the impact of improved and advanced fuels on combustion gaseous and particulate emissions shall be conducted using conventional emissions probes and non-intrusive laser measurement techniques. 12) The utilization of advanced and conventional fuels developed or produced in this program and the fuels analysis and combustion diagnostic techniques developed in this program to understand the fundamental chemical and physical processes associated with additive performance, the formation and destruction of emissions such as soot, aerosols, and NOx, and the relative efficiencies of the combustion of conventional and alternative fuels. 13) The development, evaluation and demonstration of affordable field-supportable conventional improved, multi-functional, and advanced additives for improved fuel/fuel system performance, improved thermal management, emissions and particulate control and reduction, and fuel quality improvements for conventional and advanced aerospace weapons systems. 14) The development and demonstration of fuel additives designed to improve the low temperature characteristics of fuels, modify elastomer seal swell, improve overall fuel safety and improve fuel system component durability. 15) The development, evaluation and demonstration of additive injection techniques for fixed and mobile land-based and flight platform systems. 16) The development and demonstration of integrated fuel analysis and diagnostics with fuel injection technologies. 17) The determination and assessment of fuel properties and characteristics that are desirable and undesirable in advanced fuels and additives as well as the development, demonstration and evaluation of existing or new additives that enhance and/or suppress these characteristics - especially high temperature thermal stability and low temperature flowability. 18) The investigation of the relationship between fuel processing conditions and resulting fuel properties and characteristic - including the assessment of the suitability of these fuels for use in DoD weapon systems. 19) The testing and evaluation of optimized fuel production processes and the resulting fuel products. 20) The assessment of the properties and performance of alternative fuels supplied by commercial fuel producers - in tests ranging from bench-scale to flight test (support). These properties include physical properties and combustion properties in realistic simulations. 21) The assessment of the handling, storage, logistics, ESOH, biological growth potential, and toxicology implications of alternative fuel candidates 22) The development and demonstration of analytical and diagnostic techniques and equipment required to evaluate and determine fuel/additive/material compatibility characteristics for current and advanced aerospace weapons systems. 23) The design, development and evaluation of new methodologies and equipment for evaluating materials compatibility along with the utilization of these methodologies and equipment to demonstrate the inter-compatibilities of improved and advances fuels, additives and materials from various sources and technologies. 24) The combination of the elements of fuel/additive/material compatibility studies, advanced fuel/additive development, fuel quality and contaminant characterization and measurement, combustion emissions and particulates diagnostics and characterization, and improved analytical, diagnostic and measurement techniques and methodologies into mathematical and computer-based models that can be used to predict the performance of fuels, additives and combustion systems in conventional and advanced aerospace weapons systems. 25) The improvement of modeling "rules and tools" for aerospace vehicle thermal management through the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) including coupled fuel chemistry submodels, computational chemistry, chemical kinetics and other appropriate mathematical models to design, develop and demonstrate computer simulations that will predict the performance of improved and advanced fuels, additives and combustion technologies for advanced aerospace weapons systems. 26) The validation of models and computer codes with empirical data generated in relevant systems at realistic conditions. 27) The demonstration, through simulation and testing, of the integration of advanced analytical, diagnostic, measurement and computational, advanced fuels, fuel systems and fuel system components, additives and combustion system technologies including the evaluation and demonstration of these technology integrations through the design, development and use of proof-of-concept bench-, rig-, and full-scale simulations as well as full-scale engine tests and flight demonstrations designed to provide data sets for validation of mathematical and computational models developed during this program and to validate and demonstrate the operability, supportability, safety, and maintainability of these integrations. 28) The development of apparatus, techniques and methods of integrating improved and advanced fuels, additive and combustion technologies into prototype advanced aerospace systems. 29) The appropriate evaluations and demonstrations to validate, improve and extend the mathematical and computational models and codes developed in this program. 30) The demonstration and documentation of leadership, competency and expertise in the following areas: a) alternate fuels properties measurement b) a breadth and depth of understanding in the areas of fuel and combustion chemistry, analysis, combustion diagnostics, laser technologies, fuel systems and fuel system components, engine combustion technologies and CFD modeling of fuel chemistry and combustion. c) Fuel management systems - both ground-based and flight-based; d) Aircraft thermal management concepts and technologies e) Fuel additives and related technologies f) Chemical kinetic modeling and simulation g) Fuel-related technology development RESPONSES, FORMAT & PAGE LIMITATION This announcement is for information and planning purposes only. Any persons or companies interested in this notice and are capable of meeting the requirements stated above, are to respond to the requirements and submit their capability statement to the Contracting Officer within 15 days of this notice. The capability statement should include a complete capability/qualification package describing the company's technical expertise, experience and facilities to accomplish the work described in this document. Responses should be provided on standard letter size 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper, limited to a maximum of 35 single space pages. The font for text should be 12 point or larger, Arial font. Responses may be submitted in writing (only the original is necessary) or electronically (Adobe PDF). Electronic submittals must follow the format requirements of standard letter submittals. Each response should reference Research and Development Notice of Contracting Action. Responses received after 15 days from the published date of this notice or without the required information will be considered non-responsive to the synopsis, and will not be considered. This synopsis neither constitutes a Request for Proposal or Invitation for Bid, nor does it restrict the Government to an ultimate acquisition approach. This Research and Development Notice of Contracting Action should not be construed as a commitment by the Government for any purpose.