CEFAS26-83 Contract for Acquisition of a Controllable Plant Growth Chamber

Cefas requires a plant growth chamber for the growth of microalgal cultures under controlled conditions. The chamber needs to provide consistent lighting and temperature throughout with several shelves to allow for high efficiency growth of cultures held in tissue culture flasks. The cultures need to be maintained for prolonged periods of time with growth conditions optimised towards maximum achievable cell growth rates and densities. A large internal capacity is required in order to maintain a high number of culture flasks of either the same or multiple species of marine microalgae and freshwater cyanobacteria. Options for gas or electrical lines into the unit are desirable but not essential. The unit will be expected to operate in a laboratory environment with external temperatures between 15-25 °C. As the primary use will be for the growth of marine microalgal cultures in seawater growth media, the unit will need to be able to operate with potentially high internal relative humidity.

Scope of Requirements:

1. Technical Requirement

1.1. The unit must have the ability to maintain internal temperatures between 10°C and 40°C both with and without lights across all shelves at any point. The ability to reach lower temperatures is desirable but not essential. The working internal temperature must be able to be set by the user and then maintained at the specified temperature. Temperature will be consistent throughout the unit. Temperature will be controllable in increments of 0.5°C with control in increments of 0.1°C preferable. Temperature will be monitored in increments of ±0.5°C with ±0.1°C accuracy preferable.

1.2. The unit must offer controllable lighting (preferably LED)

• The unit must offer variable light time periods (day/night cycling essential),

• The unit must offer controllable lighting intensity (able to achieve between 100 and 500 μmol photons/m²·s is essential, the ability to reach levels above or below this range is desirable)

• The unit will offer variable light spectrum (adjustable far red and/or the ability to simulate geographic light profiles is desirable).

1.3. The unit must provide a minimum of 0.5m2 of usable illuminated growth space. A total usable growth area of ≥1m2 is desirable. It is anticipated that this will be achieved with a number of internal shelves. A working height of ≥30cm between shelves is desired.

1.4. The unit must offer a thermal cutoff, deactivating the unit in the case of a set temperature threshold being exceeded, this threshold will be user modifiable. The unit must also offer a user programmable audio/visual alarm to alert users to performance outside of specified criteria.

2. Environmental Considerations

2.1. Unit will have a low power consumption.

2.2. Unit will be designed for reuse/remanufacture and of regenerative nature to eliminate waste where possible.

2.3. Consideration of how packaging will be managed. Ideally at the time of installation the supplier will remove packaging and dispose of by ethical and environmentally friendly methods. Where possible packaging is to be re-used or recycled.

2.4. Consideration of life cycle assessment for the equipment.

3. Hardware, Software, PC, Licenses, operating systems

3.1. Whilst remote connection may be a feature it is essential that all required control elements can be conducted on the unit itself.

3.2. It must be possible to transfer any collected data logs without the need for networking (USB port or similar for data transfer preferable).

4. Compatibility with existing hardware/software/equipment

4.1. Where applicable, any software must be compatible with Windows 11.

4.2. The unit must offer an interface with all the required control elements programmable on the unit itself, without the need for external connections.

5. Installation

5.1. Free standing unit will not need more than connection to power and a brief period of user tuning to the correct temperature and light cycle. Provided manual must be sufficient for all setup needs and available in accessible English, preferably the manual will be available in PDF format.

5.2. Supplier will confirm delivery requirements, including access dimensions and site preparation.

6. Ease of maintenance

6.1. It will be easy to sterilise the internal surfaces and these must be resistant to high humidity and corrosion. Stainless steel or equivalent is anticipated. Routine cleaning will be undertaken with a dilute virucide or 70% ethanol solution. It is anticipated that routine repairs and servicing may be carried out by a third-party maintenance provider. Replacement parts must therefore be available for 3rd party contractors to purchase.

7. Parts, Consumables and Updates

7.1. The unit will be serviceable by a qualified electrician/cooling unit engineer. Replacement parts must be available for purchase by a 3rd party when the unit is out of warranty period, for a minimum period of five years.

8. Warranties, Guarantees, Servicing

8.1. Warranties will start from the point of acceptance of delivery and once the goods have been tested to ensure they are in working order. Cefas expects a minimum warranty period of 12 months to be included in the purchase price. The level of technical support available during the warranty period (remote and/or on-site) must be detailed in the supplier's response. Suppliers are also invited to provide pricing for extended warranty options in the Pricing Schedule in RFQ Part II. Any pricing provided for extended warranty options will not be included as part of the tender evaluation. The Authority reserves the right to decide, at the contract award stage, whether an extended warranty will be added to the purchase.