Replacing oil-based toluene with biomass-derived furfural for 4,4′-dimethylbiphenyl (DMBP) production can pave the way for sustainable polyester manufacture. This work compared the economic and environmental performances of two conceptual designs of 4,4′-DMBP production. The first toluene-based route consists of toluene alkylation to (methylcyclohexyl)toluene (MCHT), MCHT dehydrogenation to DMBP, and isomerization of lower-valued 3,3′-DMBP. The renewable furfural-based route includes hydrogenation of furfural to 2-methylfuran (MF), oxidative coupling of MF to 5,5′-dimethylfuran (DMBF), and tandem Diels–Alder dehydration of 5,5′-DMBF to 4,4′-DMBP. The reaction conditions are optimized to achieve a more economically feasible process using furfural feedstock. At a scale of 83 kmol/h feedstock, the 4,4′-DMBP minimum selling price of the furfural-based route is $3044/t, while that of the toluene-based route is $2488/t. The feedstock and 3,4′-DMBP isomer prices are identified as critical parameters for the economic evaluation by sensitivity analysis. A “cradle-to-gate” life-cycle assessment confirms that furfural-based DMBP production emits significantly fewer greenhouse gas (5.00 kg CO₂ equiv/kg DMBP) as compared to the toluene-based counterpart (8.28 kg CO₂ equiv/kg DMBP).

中文翻译：

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生物质衍生糠醛和油基资源中 4,4'-二甲基联苯的比较：技术经济分析和生命周期评估

用生物质衍生的糠醛代替油基甲苯来生产 4,4'-二甲基联苯 (DMBP) 可以为可持续的聚酯制造铺平道路。这项工作比较了 4,4'-DMBP 生产的两种概念设计的经济和环境性能。第一个基于甲苯的路线包括甲苯烷基化为（甲基环己基）甲苯（MCHT），MCHT 脱氢为 DMBP，以及低值 3,3'-DMBP 的异构化。基于可再生糠醛的路线包括将糠醛氢化成 2-甲基呋喃 (MF)、将 MF 氧化偶联成 5,5'-二甲基呋喃 (DMBF)，以及将 5,5'-DMBF 串联 Diels-Alder 脱水成 4,4 '-DMBP。优化反应条件以实现使用糠醛原料的更经济可行的工艺。在 83 kmol/h 原料的规模下，4, 糠醛路线4′-DMBP最低售价为$3044/t，甲苯路线最低售价为$2488/t。通过敏感性分析，原料和 3,4'-DMBP 异构体价格被确定为经济评估的关键参数。“从摇篮到大门”的生命周期评估证实，基于糠醛的 DMBP 生产排放的温室气体显着减少（5.00 kg CO₂ equiv/kg DMBP）与基于甲苯的对应物（8.28 kg CO ₂ equiv/kg DMBP）相比。