Rillieux was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. His mother had been a slave and his father was a wealthy white sugar plantation owner. Norbert's brilliance was noticed early in his life. He was educated in Paris, France, and later taught engineering in Paris. Rillieux published many steam engineering papers.

While in Paris, Rillieux learned that the boiling point of liquids is reduced as the pressure is reduced (like in a vacuum). Rillieux applied this to the processing of sugar, heating the cane sugar in a vacuum, and re-using the steam in the processing procedure. This resulted in a highly efficient mechanical process that replaced the old, laborious, dangerous, and costly method of processing sugar by hand that was called the "Jamaica train."