​Bioproducts research at RBI builds on decades of experience collaborating with pulp and paper manufacturers – extending today into a broad array of industries interested in creating value from forest and agricultural materials. The spectrum of bioproducts research at RBI spans operational excellence of existing pulp and paper manufacturing assets to creating new products. RBI is helping companies become more efficient and cost effective in their operations – and develop value added products for the future.

Along that continuum, forest biology research at RBI is improving tree stands. Our scientists are working on black liquor evaporation for pulping and chemical recovery – elimination of fouling as cost. We’re developing membranes for concentrating black liquor. RBI researchers are working with industry on removing VOCs from air emissions and eliminating contamination from recycled fiber waste streams. And we’re pursuing efficiencies such as energy cost reduction.

RBI is also working with industry toward manufacturing value added products from lignocellulose. Imagine, for example, printing on film that enables packaging to include electronic encryption for radio frequency information, advertising and more, or a thin film newspaper with dynamic images.

Research at the Renewable Bioproducts Institute at Georgia Tech includes focus on lignin and cellulose to create biochemicals – and on the processes to generate those chemicals. Our faculty is working along the value chain from the initial conversion of woody plant material into fiber, cellulose components and lignin, and into common precursor molecules such as sugars. We are working on technology and economic innovations in catalytic, enzymatic and biological refining processes. We are converting woody material into advanced, versatile chemicals and fuels.  

Fundamental research is enabling the engineering of new enzymes that can more effectively convert biomass into sugars and other valued chemicals. Research at the cellular level to modify the digestion pathways within organisms such as yeasts is driving advances in biofuels and biochemicals. And research developing novel catalytic methods is enabling conversion of sugars and biomass into other useful building-block molecules for plastics and feedstock chemicals.

At RBI, we are developing new process technology to increase the efficiency of existing approaches for making valued chemicals from biomass.

Areas of Expertise: 
Biofuels
Chemical Feedstocks
Lignin & Hemicellulose
Sugars

Understanding bio-based materials research at the Renewable Bioproducts Institute at Georgia Tech begins with appreciating our rich history in forest bioproducts. RBI’s research builds on this history to produce innovative, application-driven solutions.

Our current research  focuses on cellulosic nanomaterials derived from natural resources that can be used alone or in combination with other materials. Bioproducts under development include composite materials, low-cost carbon fibers, barrier films, aerogels, materials for 3-D printing and coatings. Beyond bioproducts, we are examining how the inclusion of bio-based materials can be a platform for tailoring product performance.

RBI works with a diverse portfolio of industry to understand challenges and engineer more sustainable solutions using bio-based materials. For example, RBI is positioned to support industry pursuing higher performing functional packaging to address consumer expectations and evolving societal needs. We value our industry partners to inform fundamental research directions and help realize the untapped potential of bio-based materials.

Areas of Expertise: 
Aerogels & Hydrogels
Biocomposites
Films & Coatings
Nanocellulose Applications
New Materials
New Materials for 3D Printing

At RBI, bioprocessing can be defined as the chemical, biological or mechanical processing of forest biomass into value added products.  It includes the development of sustainable manufacturing processes to produce new value-added products from forest biomass.  Our researchers are particularly interested in addressing the fundamental and manufacturing challenges for future high margin/high volume products from forest biomaterials.

Some of our research includes particular focus and expertise in pyrolysis and gasification. RBI leverages its unusual blend of fundamental and applied research in a unique relationship between industry and academia. A multidisciplinary approach engages, for example, chemical engineers with knowledge of chemistry and material science. And everything the institute does with industry stands to benefit from its endowed faculty and student research – liberating those experts to plan multi-year pursuits.

RBI faculty and students – who have worked exhaustively with industry and in fundamental science – are well known for their ability to characterize starting materials and technologies in pretreatment, enzymatic deconstruction and fermentation. RBI draws upon a long history in woody biomass research – especially southern pine – for deconstruction. The institute’s thermal conversion expertise grows out of a history of gasification of forest products for biofuels in traditional pulp and paper industries. The chemical upgrading required for pyrolysis is also a strength in chemical engineering and chemistry at Georgia Tech.

RBI is advancing biorefining research in a variety of areas using processes that economically convert lignocellulosic biomass into value-added products, such as traditional and new forest products, renewable energy, biochemical, advanced materials and pharmaceuticals.

That particular focus is on the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of bio-based products, such as food, feed, chemicals and materials, as well as bioenergy, such as biofuels, power and heat.

RBI also has a unique capability for high-pressure gasification of biomass, which is expected to provide economic advantages for the production of many chemicals and fuels. These experiments are performed in a 35-foot reactor in the Carbon Neutral Energy Systems building. In related studies, researchers are developing catalysts for improving the syngas yield by converting undesired side products from gasification.

A major focus in the area of thermochemical upgrading of biomass is the development of catalysts for the selective production of specific chemicals. An example was demonstrated by one of the research groups within RBI. They demonstrated how solid acid catalysts can be tuned to selectively produce acrolein or acetol. Another project is focusing on the conversion of glucose to lactic acid, which can be used in polymers.

In the area of biorefining, researchers are working to bridge the gap between two areas: academic research on small-scale reactions with pure reactants and the economically viable processes for the conversion of real biomass on an industrial scale.

The trend is clear. More than 50 biorefineries are being built across North America to test and refine technologies to produce biofuels and chemicals from renewable biomass, which can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Areas of Expertise: 
Catalysis
Lignin Upgrading

At its simplest, biotechnology is technology based on biology — harnessing cellular and biomolecular processes to develop technologies and products that help improve our lives and the health of our planet.

In the agricultural arena alone, more than 18 million farmers across the globe use agricultural biotechnology to increase yields, prevent damage from insects and pests and reduce farming’s impact on the environment.

Through the use of biological processes such as fermentation and the capture of biocatalysts, such as enzymes, yeast and other microbes, we can produce “microscopic manufacturing plants.”

Areas of Expertise: 
Enzymatic Processing
Microfluidics