QPA Special Purchase - Guild Associates Inc - Methane Analyzer

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accurate record of the methane content of the cleaned digester gas being used as a transportation fuel. The percentage of methane content allows for the calculation of an average BTU value for biogas produced. The methane analyzer must be operational before the City can begin collecting and monetizing RINS for the CNG used in the City's transportation fleet. Proposal Commentary and Justification for the Purchase Method Monitoring components and analyzer units (such as carbon dioxide, methane, oxygen, etc.) require communication and monitoring through the Microgate Gas Processing Unit Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). Every time a new analyzer component is added to the Microgate Gas Processing Unit, it requires programming code be developed and human machine interface screens to be updated so that the information from the analyzer equipment can be collected, stored, transferred and viewed on the City of South Bend Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System. The Division of Utilities, through the direction of the Department of Public Works, has requested a quotation from Guild Associates to provide a methane analyzer in a secure enclosure capable of operating with the Guild Associates system that meets the area classification requirements of the Microgate Gas Processing Unit (a Class 1 Division 2 area). The unit must also provide tight tolerances for methane analysis accuracy because the data collected will be used to average the BTU -value associated with the amount of cleaned methane / compressed biogas that is utilized for transportation use. Guild Associates has worked with the City of South Bend Division of Utilities since the commissioning of the Microgate Gas Processing Unit (2015) to assist with system calibration, system performance, component replacement, programming updates, and mechanical improvements. With the Microgate Gas Processing Unit being a proprietary system, Guild Associates involvement in the component selection and development of the system programming for these monitoring systems has been a vital part of the success of this system. Guild Associates has proprietary software program already running on the Microgate Gas Processing Unit PLC. We are asking for Guild Associates to implement new programming code on the Microgate Gas Processing Unit PLC to accept data and transmit data from proposed methane analyzer to the City's SCADA PLC. This integration is a service that Guild Associates is most suited to perform because they developed all of the programming for this system, including the HMI Screens currently in use. The analyzer data will need to be viewable and accessible on the City's SCADA PLC, and Guild has the ability to easily add this information to the SCADA monitoring screens. Guild Associates has proposed a methane analyzer from the manufacturer Siemens (Siemens ULTRAMAT 23 Gas Analyzer) to use as the main component in the analyzer equipment panel construction. Guild Associates will be building a panel enclosure to house the proposed methane analyzer that meets Class 1 Division 2 Hazardous Classification requirements. This enclosure must also be equipped with temperature regulating equipment that will cool or heat the enclosure so that the methane analyzer can operate under various temperature conditions.