The invention belongs to the technical field of chemical processes, and particularly relates to a method for continuously synthesizing
pyruvic acid through
catalytic oxidation of
ethyl lactate and coupled reaction rectification. According to the method,
ethyl lactate and
hydrogen peroxide are used as raw materials, a
titanium silicalite
molecular sieve is used as a catalyst,
pyridine-2-
formic acid is added as an auxiliary agent,
ethyl pyruvate is synthesized in a tubular reactor filled with the catalyst, then under the condition of reduced pressure, pyruvate is hydrolyzed through a continuous
reactive distillation tower, and a
pyruvic acid water solution is obtained at the
tower bottom. According to the invention, a tubular reactor model is adopted, the
side reaction of
hydrogen peroxide caused by backmixing of kettle reaction is solved, meanwhile,
pyridine-2-
formic acid is added as an auxiliary agent, the invalid
decomposition of
hydrogen peroxide in the
catalytic oxidation process is solved, and the
utilization rate of
hydrogen peroxide is improved. Reaction rectification is coupled in the
ethyl pyruvate hydrolysis process, continuous
hydrolysis of
ethyl pyruvate is achieved, a reaction section is filled with
styrene resin with
sulfonic acid groups to catalyze
hydrolysis of ester, the
reaction rate is increased from the thermodynamic angle, ethyl
alcohol is promoted to be moved out of a
system in the decompression hydrolysis
kinetics, the reaction time is greatly shortened, and the yield is increased. And high-efficiency, continuous and green synthesis of
pyruvic acid is realized.