Research Triangle Park, N.C. – September 15, 2026 -- RTI International has opened a $14 million expansion of its Pilot Xcelerator platform, doubling the independent research institute's commercialization infrastructure for energy and industrial technology startups.
Expansion doubles pilot-scale capacity in North Carolina
The 25,000-square-foot facility on RTI's Research Triangle Park campus gives innovators access to pilot infrastructure, engineering expertise and independent scientific validation to bridge the gap between lab research and commercial deployment. RTI describes the Pilot Xcelerator as the only privately owned industrial pilot laboratory in North Carolina.
RTI targets sustainable aviation fuel, carbon capture and critical minerals
The platform supports demonstration and scale-up work across sustainable aviation fuel, carbon capture, critical minerals and advanced recycling of plastics and other materials. Tim J. Gabel, president and CEO of RTI, said the investment reflects the institute's commitment to moving breakthrough technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace and to regional growth.
Four portfolio companies illustrate the commercialization pipeline
Syzygy Plasmonics has demonstrated a greenhouse gas-reforming process converting carbon dioxide and methane into low-carbon aviation fuel and is now building a commercial plant. Aether Fuels is generating operational data from a technology that converts waste carbon feedstocks into sustainable aviation fuel to support commercial-scale deployment. Lydian Labs has demonstrated a power-to-liquids process combining captured carbon dioxide, water and renewable electricity to produce sustainable aviation fuel, targeting a commercial-scale demonstration plant in 2027 and full-scale production by 2030. CarbonBridge is preparing to test a waste-to-value bioprocessing technology that uses microbes to convert methane into methanol.
RTI positions infrastructure access as a barrier reduction for innovators
David Dausch, vice president of engineering and advanced technology at RTI, said access to pilot-scale infrastructure is one of the biggest barriers to commercialization, and the facility allows innovators to prove performance and generate real-world data without building that capability independently. RTI said space remains available for innovators seeking to partner with its engineering and validation teams.