Development of a Guideline for the N2O Monitoring Requirements for Nitric Acid Facilities
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Environment Canada has determined that any intellectual property arising from the performance of the work under this Contract will be vested in Canada on the grounds that the main purpose of the Contract, or of the deliverables contracted for, is to generate knowledge and information for public dissemination (section 6.4.1 of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Policy on Title to Intellectual Property Arising under Crown Procurement Contracts).
I. MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS
Proposals that do not meet qualification requirements will not be considered for evaluation.
Corporate Experience:
a) The Bidding Company must have a minimum of 5 years experience working in the sector of stack sampling at industrial sites. Experience must be clearly demonstrated in the proposal.
b) The Bidding Company must have a minimum of 2 years experience with monitoring N2O emissions through stack sampling. Experience must be clearly demonstrated in the proposal.
Project Team Experience:
- At least one team member must have a university degree in one of the following fields: Chemistry or engineering. Proof of degree must be provided upon request.
- The Project Manager must have a minimum of 5 years experience in project management. Experience must be clearly demonstrated on the Project Manager’s resume
- At least one team member must have a minimum of 5 years experience stack testing (specific to instrumented systems) at industrial sites. The person must have been responsible for the selection of stack sampling and testing methods. Experience must be clearly demonstrated on team member resume(s).
II. BACKGROUND
Environment Canada has been working on the selection of Performance Standards (in kg N2O/t 100% HNO3) to control N2O emissions from the production of nitric acid. In order to determine if a nitric acid facility meets the Performance Standard, the facility would need to determine the N2O concentration in the stack gas, the flow rate of the stack gas and the nitric acid production.
III. PURPOSE
The purpose of this contract is to develop a Guideline that would specify the monitoring requirements that a nitric acid facility would need to follow in order to determine their emissions (kg N2O) and provide the quantification protocol to determine the Emission Intensity of the facility (kg N2O/t HNO3). The Guideline must provide methodologies to determine the N2O emission levels at a typical facility that are in accordance with generally accepted standards of good scientific practice.
IV. OBJECTIVES
The contractor must:
1. Identify the sampling port location and specifications;
2. Identify the sampling and analytical methods that can be used to determine the N2O concentration in the stack gas;
3. Identify the volumetric flow rate methods that can be used;
4. Develop the Guideline for the N2O monitoring requirements (that is cost effective and practical) and quantification protocol;
5. Provide an estimated cost associated with one stack testing for each methodology proposed in the Guideline
V. STATEMENT OF WORK
The Contractor will assemble the information and data requested below and submit a report to the Departmental Representative. Overall the contractor must complete all of the below tasks:
Task 1: Methods or standards for the sampling port location and specifications (In the report)
- The contractor must provide a list of the Methods/Standards that could be used to determine the sampling port location and specifications for the sampling of the stack gas emission of nitric acid facilities.
- The contractor must provide information on the difference between the methods/standards (including but not limited to the precision and accuracy) and the applicability to a nitric acid facility.
- A preliminary search made by Environment Canada provides the following methods/standards, The contractor must evaluate the following methods/standards but must extend their search to all methods/standards that are in accordance with generally accepted standards of good scientific practice :
o Environment Canada, EPS 1/RM/8 – Method A;
o Provincial stack sampling codes;
o USEPA 40 CFR 60. Appendix A – Test Methods.
Task 2: Sampling and analytical methods to determine the N2O concentration (In the report)
- The contractor must provide a list of the Methods/Standards that could be used to determine the N2O concentration of the stack gas of a nitric acid facility;
- The contractor must provide information on the difference between the methods (including but not limited to the precision and accuracy) and the applicability to a nitric acid facility.
- A preliminary search made by Environment Canada provides the following methods/standards, The contractor must evaluate the following methods/standards but must extend their search to all methods/standards that are in accordance with generally accepted standards of good scientific practice :
o ISO 21258 Stationary Source Emissions – Determination of the mass concentration of dinitrogen monoxide (N2O) – Reference method: Non-dispersive infrared method, First edition, 2010
o EPA Method 320 at 40 CFR part 63, appendix A, Measurement of Vapor Phase Organic and Inorganic Emissions by Extractive Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. This method describes sampling and analytical procedures for extractive emission measurements using FTIR spectroscopy.
o ASTM D6348-03 Standard Test Method for Determination of Gaseous Compounds by Extractive Direct Interface Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy (incorporated by reference in § 98.7).
o Environment Canada, EPS 1/RM/8 – Method C.
Task 3: Methods or standards to determine the volumetric flow rate (In the report)
- The contractor must provide a list of the Methods/Standards that could be used to determine the volumetric flow rate of the stack gas of a nitric acid facility.
- The contractor must provide information on the difference between the methods (including but not limited to the precision and accuracy) and the applicability to a nitric acid facility.
- A preliminary search made by Environment Canada provides the following methods/standards, The contractor must evaluate the following methods/standards but must extend their search to all methods/standards that are in accordance with generally accepted standards of good scientific practice :
o Environment Canada, EPS 1/RM/8 – Method B;
o USEPA 40 CRF 60. Appendix A – Test Methods (1-4);
o ISO 10780:1994 Stationary source emissions – Measurement of velocity and volume flowrate of gas streams in ducts ;
o ISO 14164:1999 Stationary source emissions. Determination of the volume flow rate of gas streams in ducts – automated method.
Task 4: Methods or standards to determine the N2O emission intensity by determining N2O level and a surrogate production parameter such as stack gas oxygen drop. (In the report)
- The contractor must provide a list of the Methods/Standards that use a surrogate parameter such as CO2 or oxygen drop to determine the emission intensity of combustion process (e.g. US EPA Method 6A, 1/PG/7 Appendix A.2)
- The contractor must explore and if possible develop formulas that would make such method applicable to the determination of kg N2O per tonne of HNO3 without determining stack gas flow. It must identify the limitations and advantages of such method, (including but not limited to the precision and accuracy) and the applicability to a nitric acid facility.
Task 5: Guideline for the N2O monitoring requirements (In an Annex of the report)
- The Contractor must develop the Guideline for the N2O monitoring requirements for nitric acid facility.
- The N2O monitoring requirements must ensure accurate and precise data.
- The Guideline must allow for the use of all accurate methods/standards available that could be applicable to a nitric acid facility.
- The Guideline must include the requirements for the location of the sampling port(s), the sampling and analytical method, the determination of the volumetric flow rate, the number and duration of test runs or the volume of the sample and duration of the sampling and all other requirements necessary to ensure good quality data (including the monitoring requirement of other parameters necessary for the determination of the N2O emissions, accreditation requirements, calibration requirements, etc.). Note that requirements that were not identified in the tasks 1 to 5 but that are required as part of the Guideline to ensure good quality must be provided in the Guideline. The contractor must determine that standard conditions of the methods are those adopted by Environment Canada (25 oC, 101.325 kPa) or identify and justify any adjustment to these conditions that may be necessary. Different standard conditions were found in US EPA documents, in the Quantification Protocol for Nitrous Oxide Abatement from Nitric Acid Production (Alberta) and in the Electricity and Gas Inspection Regulations.
Task 6: Costs associated with the proposed N2O monitoring requirements (In the report)
- The Contractor must provide a breakdown of the costs associated with one stack testing for each methodology proposed in the Guideline that would meet the N2O monitoring requirements as proposed in task 5.
Task 7: Quantification Protocol (In the Guideline)
- The Contractor must provide a calculation method to determine the N2O average emissions Intensity (kg N2O/tonne 100% HNO3) for each performance test (which includes “n” number of test run) that would be in accordance with the proposed monitoring requirements identified in the Guideline. Metric units must be used.
- The contractor must also include a calculation method to determine the average N2O emission intensity (kg N2O/tonne 100% HNO3) for a number “k” of performance tests. Metric units must be used.
- A preliminary search made by Environment Canada provides the following quantification protocols, The contractor must evaluate this quantification protocols but must extend their search to all quantification protocols that are in accordance with generally accepted standards of good scientific practice :
o US EPA, 40 CFR 98.223;
o Règlement sur la déclaration obligatoire de certaines émissions de contaminants dans l’atmosphère (Québec)
VI. INFORMATION SOURCE REQUIREMENTS
The contractor may determine that they need to talk to nitric acid facilities or other scientific or technical workers, and if so, Environment must be made aware of this prior to contacting them.
The Contractor must keep a record of discussion following any communication with industry/company/organisations and provide it in an Annex to the report(s). These records must contain the industry contact information, the subject of discussion the questions posed or raised during the discussions, and any feedback received on the subject.
VII. DELIVERABLES AND SCHEDULE
Regular feedback (at least every two weeks) through email, and/or phone calls must be maintained between the Contractor and the Departmental Representative.
Schedule and Deliverables
Task Activities Dates
Initial Meeting Conference-Call Within 5 working days of First Day of Contract (FDOC)
Draft Report 1
(Deliverable 1) One electronic copy of the report ) for tasks 1 to 4 must be provided to Environment Canada (for one week review period) No later than 6 weeks after FDOC
Draft Report 2
(Deliverable 2) One electronic copy of the report for Tasks 1 to 7, including the draft Guideline, must be provided to Environment Canada (for one week review period) No later than 12 weeks after FDOC
Final report
(Deliverable 3) Two hard copies and one electronic copy of the final report, covering Tasks 1 to 7, must be provided to Environment Canada (for 1.5 weeks review period), including the Guideline No later than 17 weeks after FDOC
2 Draft Reports: Draft reports must be provided electronically in Microsoft Word (Microsoft Office Suite 97-2007). The first draft report must reflect the requirements outlined in Tasks 1 to 4. The second draft report must reflect the requirements outlined in Tasks 1 to 7, including the draft Guideline. The draft reports must also consider and address comments received during regular progress of the project and comments provided on throughout the contract. Environment Canada will review and provide comments to the Contractor within one (1) week after receiving each draft reports. EC’s comments on Draft Report 1 (Deliverable #1) must be incorporated into Draft Report 2 (Deliverable #2).
Final Report: The Contractor must provide the report in hard copy and electronically in Microsoft Word (Microsoft Office Suite 97-2007) and Adobe Acrobat (PDF). The final report must address all requirements identified in the Statement of Work. The Contractor shall incorporate all the comments provided on previous deliverables in the final report. In addition to the final report, the Contractor must provide the Departmental with:
- Background material: The contractor must provide all background material/Methods/Standards or other materials used to develop the Final Report and Guideline, preferably compiled on a CD or DVD.
- Company/Person contacted: The contractor must provide the sources and contact information for various people/organizations that were contacted during the project.
- References: All references should be clearly documented with footnotes and a reference section in the final report.
All deliverables must be written entirely in either English or in French. All deliverables shall be provided no later than 18 weeks after the first day of contract.
VIII. ACCEPTANCE OF DELIVERABLES
All discussion papers, reports and correspondence produced by the Contractor will be subject to review by persons designated by the Department Representative. All work is to be performed to the satisfaction of the Department Representative.
IX. TOTAL COST OF CONTRACT
This will be a fixed price proposal. Bidders’ cost proposals must not exceed $70,000, applicable taxes excluded.
