The invention relates to a process for preparing 1,3-
propylene glycol (1,3-PDO) by means of hydrogenating high-concentration 3-
methyl lactate (3-MHP). The process comprises the following flow: gasifying 3-MHP and H2 in a mixed manner, feeding the
mixed gas into a first hydrogenation reactor, feeding a hydrogenation product into a gas-liquid separator to separate
mixed gas of a heavy component I,
hydrogen and a light component I; feeding the
mixed gas into a first separating tank to separate H2 out for recycling, and feeding a retaining
liquid phase into a first rectification
tower for separating into a light
component II and a heavy
component II; feeding the heavy
component II and the heavy component I into a second hydrogenation reactor for further hydrogenating, feeding a hydrogenation product into a second separating tank for separating H2 out for recycling, feeding remaining components into a second rectification
tower into a light component III and crude 1,3-PDO, and refining the crude 1,3-PDO to obtain a 1,3-PDO product; separating the light component II from the light component III to obtain methyl
alcohol and n-propyl
alcohol. In the entire process, the high-concentration 3-MHP is used for hydrogenating, so that the
energy consumption of
solvent separation is lowered. Meanwhile, by two-segment hydrogenation is performed, the yield of the 1,3-PDO is increased.