Polyaromatic hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatics or polyarenes are a major (by-)product fraction of multiple classical, waste, and bio-refinery operations. They have an extremely negative environmental impact, a minimal market, and a lowering demand. Parallelly, lowly alkylated single ring arenes or monoaromatics (benzene, toluene, and xylenes, the so-called BTX fraction) are highly demanded due to their applications as chemicals or fuels. Herein, we review the status of applied polyaromatic selective ring-opening (SRO) by hydrocracking into monoaromatics. This review addresses the involved mechanisms, applicable catalysts, and reported modeling approaches for SRO. Applying the multivariate analysis to the results reported in the literature using model molecules, we showcase the limitations for extrapolating the obtained knowledge to realistic polyaromatic stream processing. We also provide a statistical evaluation of the suitability of several polyaromatic streams for their SRO processing and assess the markets, usage, and production routes for monocyclic aromatics. Finally, the technologies of these processes are also evaluated and compared, while the most promising one is discussed further based on process simulations and a techno-economic assessment.

多芳烃、多环芳烃或多芳烃是多种传统炼油、废物和生物炼油作业的主要（副）产品部分。它们对环境造成极其负面的影响，市场很小，需求也不断下降。与此同时，低烷基化单环芳烃或单芳烃（苯、甲苯和二甲苯，即所谓的 BTX 馏分）由于其作为化学品或燃料的应用而受到高度需求。在此，我们回顾了通过加氢裂化制备单芳烃的多芳烃选择性开环（SRO）的应用现状。本综述讨论了 SRO 所涉及的机制、适用的催化剂和报告的建模方法。使用模型分子对文献中报道的结果进行多变量分析，我们展示了将所获得的知识外推到实际的聚芳烃流处理的局限性。我们还对几种聚芳烃流对其 SRO 加工的适用性进行统计评估，并评估单环芳烃的市场、用途和生产路线。最后，还对这些工艺的技术进行了评估和比较，同时根据工艺模拟和技术经济评估进一步讨论了最有前途的技术。