RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., May 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Independent scientific research institute RTI International and CarbonBridge Inc. are collaborating to demonstrate a new bioprocessing technology designed to convert gases into valuable chemical products, including next-generation fuels. The work will be performed at RTI's Pilot Xcelerator (RPX), an energy innovation ecosystem in Research Triangle Park.

Under a newly executed memorandum of understanding, RTI will conduct a series of demonstrations of CarbonBridge's stackable bioreactor system. The work is designed to generate credible, third-party performance data, starting with methanol production from methane to support informed decisions about scale-up and commercialization.

"This collaboration is a great example of how RTI helps partners move promising technologies from concept to commercialization," said RTI's Sameer Parvathikar, program director of RPX. "We're thrilled to collaborate with CarbonBridge to help support the path to commercialization for their innovative technology."

As part of the collaboration, RTI will design, build, and operate automated technology validations using scalable architectures for iteration and optimization. The plan includes testing periods planned for 2027 with data generated for future deployment scenarios.

"We're very excited to partner with RTI—a leading, interdisciplinary research institution," said Manu Pillai, co–founder and CEO of CarbonBridge. "As we look to scale and prove out our technology, it is extremely important to partner with the right people. Our technology is highly innovative—combining biology, material science, fluid engineering, and software architecture—to truly accomplish a bioindustrial revolution with the support of RTI and all their resources. This pilot will pave the way for scaleups at farms and wastewater plants, in addition to future demonstrations of other microbe-enabled gas-to-value pathways."

CarbonBridge is an ARPA-E awardee (DE-AR0001944), developing bioprocessing technologies to convert gases such as methane and carbon dioxide into fuels and chemicals. Their approach uses microbes housed in a novel bioreactor design to produce products including methanol, acetate, and biosurfactants as fuels and intermediates.

Learn more about the RTI Pilot Xcelerator

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SOURCE RTI International