Development of Process for Production of Highly Valuable Chemicals Derived from Dicyclopentadiene for Comprehensive Utilization of C5 Chemicals

C5 chemicals (isoprene, dicyclopentadiene, piperylene) are co-produced by an extractive distillation process using C5 fraction, by-product of ethylene from naphtha cracker, as a raw material. The authors have developed a new process for producing cyclopentanone and a commercial process for manufacturing cyclopentyl methyl ether using dicyclopentadiene as a starting material for the comprehensive utilization of the C5 chemicals. In this report, we introduce the technical knowledge, especially about catalyst deactivation, obtained in the technical studies for the process development. In addition, we will review recent topics on the development of manufacturing technology for C5 chemicals itself, which is essential to the growth of the C5 chemicals business.