Process for continuously hydrolyzing ethylene-vinyl acetate

摘要

A process for continuously hydrolyzing ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer which comprises feeding a methanol solution in which an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer having ethylene of 25 to 50 % by mole into the upper portion of a tower reactor and supplying an alkaline catalyst into the middle portion of the tower, and blowing a methanol vapor into the lower portion of the tower to remove a methyl acetate vapor together with a methanol vapor from the top of the tower and taking out the highly hydrolyzed ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer from the bottom of the tower, and whereby a highly hydrolyzed ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer is easily obtained in the presence of a small amount of alkaline catalyst.