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[A.N.T.]

Hello,
I have been working on a project to resurrect a BD plant. The plant uses waste vegetable oil as feedstock. This is reacted with excess methanol in the presence of catalysts to produce the FAME.
I have been working on the methanol recovery of the whole process and thus far have accumulated a lot of questions. Any help would be appreciated? I have no access to simulation softwares so all my calculations thus far have been by hand.

1. Should I be worrying about methanol loss during the trans esterification reaction if the reactor is open to the atmosphere via a vent duct and the space between the max liquid level and the top of the reactor (start of vent) is 3 ft.
2. After production, flash recovery is used to recover some of the methanol from the glycerol and BD streams, any calculations or specific equations I should be looking at? (I've seen a lot but too many variables)
3. Anybody have access to a simulator to investigate optimum pressure and temperature for the flash tank (vessel).

Thanks