The application discloses a method for preparing trimethylolamine by a
continuous flow method, and comprises the following steps: mixing polyformaldehyde and alkali to obtain a
mixed solution 1; mixing a
nitromethane solution and the
mixed solution 1 to form a reaction solution, and then introducing the reaction solution into a micro-channel
continuous flow reactor to obtain a
mixed solution 2 after reaction; adjusting the flow rates of the mixed solution 2 and
hydrogen, and then mixing the gas-liquid mixture into a gas-liquid mixer at the inlet of a micro-
packed bed continuous flow reactor, passing through a catalyst
bed layer of the micro-
packed bed continuous flow reactor to react, and then adjusting the temperature through a reactor heat exchange cavity of the micro-
packed bed continuous flow reactor to obtain a crude product after reaction, and then performing post-treatment and purification to obtain a trimethylolamine product; and the catalyst comprises a supported Pd catalyst, a supported Ni catalyst or a
Raney nickel catalyst. The preparation method of the application enables the
solid catalyst to fully contact with the mixed solution 2 and
hydrogen, compared with a conventional intermittent hydrogenation preparation method, the reaction time is shortened, the product purity is high, the safety is high, and the method is beneficial to industrialized scale production.