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New TECH Report - Benzene/Toluene (2025 Program)
Benzene/Toluene is one in a series of reports published as part of NexantECA’s 2025 Technoeconomics – Energy & Chemicals (TECH) program
Overview
Benzene and toluene are aromatic hydrocarbons that are produced from reformate extraction, pygas extractive distillation and integrated aromatic plants. In recent years, oversupply, increased fuel efficiency, electrification of transportation and a growing regulatory environment in favor of lower carbon emissions from the automobile transportation sector have reduced demand for gasoline and the corresponding aromatics-based blending components. Gasoline usage is estimated to decrease further in the long term as carbon intensity reduction and net zero target timelines draw near. However, there is sustained demand for aromatics such as benzene to produce styrene, cumene, and other derivatives. Toluene is mostly recycled and converted to benzene (or para-xylene). Benzene and toluene can be produced via multiple technologies, including naphtha reforming followed by hydrodealkylation and conversion of non-conventional feedstocks.
This TECH report covers both commercial and developing technologies for producing benzene and toluene, addressing questions such as:
- How has reformate production technologies improved to recover as much benzene and toluene as possible from a ton of naphtha feedstock?
- Have there been any modifications to improve process efficiencies and reduce utility consumption?
- What are the developing technologies for benzene/toluene production and at what technology readiness levels?
- Are there developments to diversify the usage of benzene?
- How does the cost of production compare across different processes and regions?
- What is the carbon intensity for the different production routes and how does it vary across different regions?
Commercial Technologies
Production of aromatics in an integrated complex requires hydrotreating and catalytic reforming of naphtha, producing a reformate from which benzene, toluene and xylenes can be recovered through a series of splitters and aromatics extraction or conversion processes. Within the integrated aromatic complexes, toluene is mostly processed via hydrodealkylation to produce benzene, or via disproportionation (or transalkylation) to produce para-xylene. Benzene can also be produced from pyrolysis gasoline by extractive distillation or hydrodealkylation, and produced from coke oven light oil through hydrodealkylation.
Technologies developed by Axens, Lummus Technology, UOP, thyssenkrupp Uhde, Sinopec, Sulzer Chemtech, and others are described and analyzed.
Process Economics
Detailed cost of production estimates for various technologies are presented for the Middle East, United States Gulf Coast, China, South Korea and Southeast Asia. Estimates are developed for reformate and multiple benzene production technologies.
Commercial Overview
With less demand for fuel, benzene is continued to be used for producing chemicals, mainly styrene, cumene/phenol, and cyclohexane. Due to benzene’s historically higher value than toluene, recovered toluene is mostly recycled and converted to benzene and para-xylene. Toluene is also used to produce toluene diisocyanate, an intermediate for producing polyurethanes.
Contact a member to our Insights & Analytics team to find out more about this report
About Us - NexantECA, the Energy and Chemicals Advisory company is the leading advisor to the energy, refining, and chemical industries. Our clientele ranges from major oil and chemical companies, governments, investors, and financial institutions to regulators, development agencies, and law firms. Using a combination of business and technical expertise, with deep and broad understanding of markets, technologies and economics, NexantECA provides solutions that our clients have relied upon for over 50 years.
