Public procurement notice: Contract Award Notice
Published: 2020-10-09
Buyer: Aarhus Universitet
Country: DK
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 33000000 | 38000000
Estimated value: 58000 EUR
Award criteria: Lowest price

Technical requirements: To enable simultaneous isotropic heating and powder X-ray diffraction data acquisition during the calcination of oxides. We wish to buy an isotropic heating system that can fit onto our dove tail Rigaku Smartlab X-ray diffractometer. The requirements for the heating system are: isotropic heating environment, window for X-ray transmission, compatible with our existing Rigaku Smartlab X-ray diffractometer, incorporation of temperature control software into the existing X-ray control software, Smartlab Guidance.
The research concerns the investigation of the structural changes during formation and calcination of oxide materials used for batteries. The main aim is to observe the changes in atomic structure of oxide materials with X-rays during isotropic heating simultaneously. Collaborators have shown with a HTK 1200N stationary system fitted into a X-ray diffractometer that it can provide the isotropic heating of the samples and that structural changes can be followed by this heating system. It is crucial for the research that the heating is isotropic and that atomic structural changes can be followed by X-rays. We require that the heating system can reach 1 200 oC and the angle of incidence is 0 to 164o in 2θ. Furthermore, it has to be fitted into the existing X-ray system, Rigaku Smartlab and the temperature control software has to be incorporated into the X-ray control software in order to ensure simultaneous temperature and X-ray data collection. Of significant importance, the heating has to be isotropic in both air, vacuum and inert gases, and there has to be a window for the X-rays to penetrate the heating area.
After exploring the market, we are of the opinion that only one company can deliver the isotropic heating system for our Rigaku Smartlab, i.e. Rigaku Europe SE. With respect to a complete evaluation of all requirements, incorporation into existing software, isotropic heating and modifications of our existing instrument, Rigaku Europe SE is the only company who can provide a product that meets these requirements.
Collaborators in this area of our research have the same furnace we intend to buy, and have been able to perform experiments that reliably and uniformly heat samples during diffraction data acquisition, with repeatable results. This is in contrast to our current set up which does not produce results which can be easily replicated due to inhomogeneous heat dispersion from the heating plate to the sample itself. It is clear that there is a gradient in heating in the current set up from the bottom to top side of samples, and this data is not useful for publications. Only with an isotropic heating will be able to determine the crystallographic changes that occur as a function of heat profile and time. Moreover, in line with our ambitions and status as world leading in the field of crystallography and diffraction methods, we require state-of-the-art instrumentation that can produce reliable and valid results.
Following the notification, a standstill period of 10 calendar days will be held in accordance to paragraph 3 of Act No 593 of 2 June 2016 on the Danish Act on the Complaints Board for public Procurement. This implies that the contracting authority cannot sign the contract with the winning tenderer before the standstill period has expired.
In case of complaints about tenders or decisions, e.g. award of contracts covered by Section II or III in the Danish Public Procurement Act must be submitted to the Complaints Board for Public Procurement (Klagenævnet for udbud) within 45 calendar days from the day after the contractor published a notice in the Official Journal on the conclusion of a contract. At the latest concurrently with submission of an appeal to the complaints board for public procurement, the complainant must inform the contracting authority of the alleged infringement, and whether the appeal is to be referred to the board.


Winner: Rigaku
Award value: 58000
Number of bids: 1