Located in the heart of North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, the RTI Pilot Xcelerator is at the center of innovation. At this one-of-a-kind pilot facility, the RTI team excels at scaling energy and industrial process innovations quickly and efficiently.

Quick Stats

Utilities

We Have The Utilities You Need

Indoor and outdoor plug-and-play bays feature process skids and are designed for flexibility, adapting to each technology’s needs. You bring the prototype, and we provide the utilities to help scale it.

Compressed air
Chilled water
Flue gas supply
Bulk hydrogen via tube trailers
Enclosed flare and thermal oxidizer
Low-pressure process steam
Bulk CO₂ and nitrogen
Power up to 480 V
Natural gas supply
1 MW solar field (future)

Galleries

Process Bays

Plug-and-play bays feature process skids that house pumps, valves, piping, controls, and all the utilities needed for a process unit. Unlike preconfigured systems, our process bays are customizable based on your technology.

A covered process bay with pipes and equipment.

A close-up of equipment in a process bay.

Core Processing Units

Our preconfigured systems include a catalytic biomass pyrolysis unit that processes one ton of biomass per day; a carbon capture gas absorption system that captures up to 100 kg per day of CO₂; a gas-to-liquids converter capable of producing two barrels per day; and a fuel combustion system that produces real flue gas from coal, natural gas, or biomass.

The biomass core process unit. Three levels of equipment in a covered bay.

Catalytic biomass pyrolysis unit converts biomass into biocrude for refining.

Carbon capture process unit. A maze of pipes, valves, and insulated conduit.

Gas absorption system tests CO₂ capture solvents and sorbents.

The gas-to-liquids process unit. Thick insulated pipes in steel frames.

Fischer-Tropsch reactor converts syngas to hydrocarbon fuels.

Workspaces

Indoor workspace includes dedicated control rooms for process and safety monitoring, while office space supports business collaboration as teams move technologies toward commercial readiness. Additional RTI campus laboratories complement the RTI Pilot Xcelerator, including offline analytical measurements, chemical and materials synthesis labs, and smaller-scale process development and optimization labs.

An open work area with tables and computers, brightly lit through large windows.

A scientist works on a compute in front of equipment

A scientist at a computer monitors a microreactor.

Interested in Partnering
With RTI?

The RTI Pilot Xcelerator has the space and infrastructure ready to scale your technology.

Get in Touch

Facilities