Table 6. Comparison of TEA and LCA concerning Toluene-MCH and DBT-H₁₈-DBT LOHCs systems.

Parameters	Toluene–MCH	DBT-H18-DBT	Summary of TEA/LCA	Advancement
System	Export/transport chains and supply logistics (mature benchmark LOHC)132	Large-scale storage/transport; attractive handling and stability; widely studied in practice reviews131	Full-chain costing and emissions depend on heat/electricity sources and logistics assumptions126	Integrated supply-chain design and deployment-focused demonstrations138
Economics	Dehydrogenation heat and purification dominate overall penalties10	Carrier/handling and purity assumptions become decisive in cost realism27	Competing carriers (notably ammonia) often show a cost advantage in comparative analyses.125 Cost: Toluene-methylcyclohexane (MCH) system: $2.083 – $6.97/kg H2 (ref. 127 and 128)	Thermal neutrality/heat intensification; catalyst lifetime improvement.93
			N-Ethylcarbazole (NEC) system: $0.09–$0.9/kg H2.129 Dibenzyltoluene (DBT) system: 4.21/kg H2.130
LCA	Upstream energy + logistics + carrier pathway (mainly if fossil heat is used)132	Carrier pathway and dehydrogenation energy; outcomes are sensitive to “green LOHC” assumptions133	Carrier production route (bio-derived vs. conventional) can swing results markedly133	Low-carbon heat/electricity coupling; green carrier synthesis routes133
Future direction	Better dehydrogenation heat supply and intensified reactors93	Heat-intensified dehydrogenation + impurity-tolerant, durable catalysts93	Innovations must reduce both energy penalty and cost volatility	Physics-inspired ML catalyst design + deployment-grade datasets; thermal-neutral architectures139