Industrial Glycerine Purification & Biodiesel

I am setting up an industrial-scale line to turn crude glycerine into high-purity glycerine while simultaneously producing saleable biodiesel. At present, the plant floor only has centrifuges installed; everything else—from the reaction and neutralisation stages to final distillation and polishing—still needs to be engineered, sized, and costed.

Here is what I need from you:

• Develop complete material and energy balances from crude glycerine feed to refined glycerine and biodiesel outputs.
• Produce a process-flow diagram and a detailed P&ID that clearly show where our existing centrifuges fit and where new equipment (reactors, distillation columns, pumps, heat exchangers, storage) should be placed.
• Specify operating conditions, catalysts/chemicals, and control logic for each unit operation.
• Provide equipment sizing sheets and utility requirements so I can forward them to vendors.
• Deliver an economic snapshot (CAPEX, OPEX, payback) that highlights profitability from the biodiesel by-product.

Acceptance criteria
The package will be considered complete when the calculations close within 5 % mass balance, every equipment item is tagged and sized, and the economics reflect current market prices for methanol, NaOH/KOH, crude glycerine, refined glycerine, and biodiesel.

You may use Aspen Plus, HYSYS, ChemCAD, or a comparable simulator—whatever lets you model the transesterification and purification sections accurately. Please outline any assumptions you make so I can validate them with on-site data.