Objectives

The primary objective of this tender is to supply, deliver, install, and provide training on a new Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), and Sulphur (S) Elemental Analyser instrument for analytical services. The instrument will be used in the Department of Agriculture & Rural Development's laboratories to analyze plant, soil, water, and feed samples, supporting science-based agricultural optimization, food security, and revenue generation.

Scope

The scope includes:

• Provision of a complete CNS elemental analyser capable of analyzing solid, powder, and liquid samples for C, N, and S.
• Installation, commissioning, and training on the instrument at Cedara.
• Provision of a maintenance and repair service contract for the instrument's lifespan.
• Guarantee/warranty of at least 1 year with specified response times.
• Delivery of consumables sufficient for approximately 4,000 samples.
• Provision of software, data handling, and reporting functionalities.
• Post-installation support including training, calibration, and service level agreements for ongoing maintenance.

Technical Requirements

The analyser must meet the following technical specifications:

• Operate on high-temperature combustion (Dumas method) with complete oxidation of samples.
• Support simultaneous multi-element detection (C, N, S) from a single sample.
• Include a thermal conductivity detector (TCD) and/or infrared detectors.
• Support automatic oxygen dosing, leak detection, auto-start, self-diagnostics, and unattended operation.
• Handle macro and micro sample sizes (e.g., ≥125 mg for plant/food, ≥350 mg for soil).
• Provide detection ranges of approximately 0.5–75 mg for carbon, 0.1–12.5 mg for nitrogen, and 0.025–2.5 mg for sulphur.
• Include automatic sample loaders with capacity for at least 30 samples.
• Be controlled via a PC with Windows OS (minimum Intel Core i5, 16 GB RAM, 500 GB SSD).
• Include integrated data acquisition, calibration, reporting software, and export capabilities compatible with LIMS.
• Come with a minimum 10-year warranty on furnace and TCD components.

Skills Requirements

The successful supplier must demonstrate:

• Experience in supplying and installing CNS analyzers or similar analytical instruments.
• Availability of qualified service engineers with expertise in maintenance and repair of the specified analyser.
• Capability to provide comprehensive training to end-users on operation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and data handling.
• Ability to support software installation, calibration, and validation according to international standards (e.g., ASTM, AOAC).
• Provision of ongoing technical support and maintenance services, including a service level agreement for at least three years post-warranty.
• Proven track record of delivering reliable, high-precision analytical equipment suitable for laboratory environments.