Find a TenderAwarded
Published 18 Aug 2021, 17:43 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Components of Shock Tube System

Official notice

Authority: University of Sheffield (Education)

GoodsNegotiated without publication of a contract notice
Awarded value£315,000published contract · exc. VAT
Awarded 9 Aug 2021
Awarded to Heblac Technologie

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The University of Sheffield (UoS) is establishing a Shock Tube laboratory as part of its brand-new Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC). The intention of the shock tube is to study high-pressure chemical kinetics of combustion reactions using various diagnostic equipment.

CPV: Research, testing and scientific technical simulator

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1The Shock Tube will be used to study high-pressure and high-temperature chemical…

The Shock Tube will be used to study high-pressure and high-temperature chemical kinetics of hydrogen and methane combustion, before moving onto syngas and larger hydrocarbons.

The tube will focus on high-pressure combustion applications, such as the Allam-Fetvedt cycle, diesel engine and scram-jet combustion. The supply of Shock tube will include certification, pressure testing and delivery.

  • Mixing vessel
  • Shock tube support (Hollow stand which can be filled up with sand, concrete,

or similar)

  • Measuring equipment as specified before
  • Gas manifold for preparing mixtures in mixing vessel and high pressure section

of the shock tube

  • Engineering support
  • Support for facility setup Additional information: Regulation 32 of PCR 2015 is being applied as in 32: 2a & 2b(ii) and 5a.

No contract will be entered into until after a 10 calendar day period from the submission of the VEAT notice date.

Delivery: Yorkshire & Humber · The Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC), Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sheffield.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Negotiated without publication of a contract notice
Legal basis
CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
Procurement category
Goods
Notice status
Awarded
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Yes (GPA)
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
18 Aug 2021, 17:43 BST
Last source update
18 Aug 2021, 17:43 BST
FTS notice number
2021/S 000-020253
Classification (CPV)
Research, testing and scientific technical simulator
Delivery area
Yorkshire & Humber (UKE32)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-02d68c Find a Tender
Why no open competition

No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to open procedure; The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development under the conditions stated in the directive

Published justification

Following several months of market research a tender specification was developed and a full OJEU tendering exercise was conducted for a range of elements of the Shock Tube system. However, on evaluation it was determined that none of the proposed systems met the technical requirements of the specification. In addition, all bidders were found to be lacking the technical experience with similar high pressure systems, leading to safety concerns. Furthermore, all of the solutions exceed the budget for the tender by circa £150k minimum, likely due to the uncertainties that remained in each of submission.

Therefore, the tender exercise was cancelled and a further period of market research ensued. During this time Heblac Technologies were identified as a technically experienced potential vendor. Following some design development, a technical solution was identified and quotation for the system specification was received. This value included all major aspects of the system with only minor site specific/installations not included.

However, the requirement remains to deliver the technical outputs associated with the full system, hence the purchase of this aspect of the system is still necessary.

A single source tender is therefore proposed to formalise the solution provided by Heblac Technologies for the following reasons:

  1. The vendor is the only technically competent vendor of a potential dangerous pressure related related system identified in more than 2 years of research.
  2. The vendor has produced a detailed technical solution that meets all the requirements of the Centre's technical capability and must be capability and fully integrated with the Centre's other systems.
  3. The solution provided is the only solution within budget.
  4. In order to secure this solution within the time available as per the grant funding agreement programme, a direct purchase is the only feasible option. It would also be considered, unprofessional to run full tender exercise in the knowledge a vendor has been identified.
  5. Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive.

Summary

This is for the installation of a Shock Tube system on the grounds that meets technical capability in relation to safety needs and close collaboration with the department to ensure the technical capabilities meet the expectations of UK law. The Shock Tube and process control systems are complex and intimately linked to the design of the Centre. Therefore, we require a manufacture who has long-standing experience in the field, who are able to supply and guarantee our materials specifications, and who has proven experience of delivering similar projects in the past. Furthermore, we require the system to be fully tested FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) prior to shipment with unique systems required to fulfil this capability in the place of manufacture.

Hence, following unsuccessful tender process it is deemed necessary to collaborate with leading supplier in the field of the Shock Tube manufacture in order to obtain the goods within the allotted timescales. Therefore, Regulation 32 is being applied as in 32: 2a , 2b(ii) and 5a

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £315,0001 contract exc. VAT
Contracts signed 1latest 9 Aug 2021
Awarded toValueDateStatus
Heblac Technologie£315,000 †—Awarded

Contracts

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD

Contracting authorityEducationBody governed by public lawEducation Western Bank, SHEFFIELD, Yorkshire & Humber, S102TNContact name, email, phone

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice

Official documents & specifications

Official links; attachments are not copied

No document links were published on the notice.