A distillate of 45 wt% isopropyl alcohol, 50 wt% diisopropyl ether, and 5 wt% water is obtained from an isopropyl alcohol finishing unit. The ether is to be recovered by liquid–liquid extraction with water, the solvent, entering the top and the feed entering the bottom, so as to produce an ether containing less than 2.5 wt% alcohol and an extracted alcohol of at least 20 wt%. The unit will operate at 25C and 1 atm. Using the method of Varteressian and Fenske with a McCabe Thiele diagram, find the stages required. Is it possible to obtain an extracted alcohol composition of 25 wt%? Equilibrium data are given below.

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PHASE-EQUILIBRIUM (TIE-LINE) DATA AT 25°C, 1 ATM Ether phase Water phase Wt% Alcohol 2.4 3.2 5.0 9.3 24.9 38.0 45.2 Wt% Ether 96.7 95.7 93.6 88.6 69.4 50.2 33.6 Wt% Water 0.9 1.1 1.4 2.1 5.7 11.8 21.2 Wt% Wt% Alcohol Ether 8.1 8.6 10.2 11.7 17.5 21.7 26.8 1.8 1.8 1.5 1.6 1.9 2.3 3.4 Wt% Water 90.1 89.6 88.3 86.7 80.6 76.0 69.8