Toluene: Production route
Why nobody builds a plant just for toluene
What this tab covers How it is made: the main production routes or, for product families, the main product types and technologies, compared on share of supply, inputs per tonne, plant scale, yield, co-products and unit cost.Toluene comes almost entirely from crude oil, as a fraction of refinery reformate or cracker pyrolysis gasoline, recovered by solvent extraction. Smaller volumes come from coke-oven light oil and as a by-product of styrene plants. There is no significant on-purpose route, because toluene is usually the cheapest aromatic and the flow goes the other way, from toluene to benzene and xylenes.
Routes compared
| Route | Share of supply | Inputs per tonne | Typical scale | Yield | Co-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reformate extraction | about 70% (indicative) | reformate typically 15-25% toluene by weight (indicative) | 0.2-1 Mt/yr per complex | co-product | hydrogen, benzene, xylenes | naphtha opportunity cost; trades near gasoline value |
| Pyrolysis gasoline from steam crackers | about 20-25% (indicative) | naphtha crackers yield a few% toluene on feed (indicative) | tied to cracker size | co-product | ethylene, propylene, benzene | low marginal cost |
| Coke-oven light oil | about 5% (indicative) | by-product of coking | small | by-product | benzene, xylene | by-product |
How each route works
Reformate extractionHeavy naphtha is reformed over platinum-rhenium catalysts. The reformate is extracted with sulfolane or similar solvents and fractionated into benzene, toluene and xylenes. Toluene is either sold or sent to conversion units in the same complex.
Large, cheap supply, but volume is set by reformer runs.
indicative Pyrolysis gasoline from steam crackersNaphtha cracking produces pyrolysis gasoline containing toluene. After two-stage hydrotreating it is extracted with benzene. Ethane-fed crackers produce very little.
Falls when crackers cut runs or switch to ethane.
indicative Coke-oven light oilCrude benzol from coking coal is hydrorefined and fractionated to recover benzene, toluene and xylene. Mostly in China.
Declines with blast furnace steelmaking.
indicative Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs move with feedstock and energy prices, plant size and region.