Oil is to be extracted from halibut livers by means of ether in a countercurrent extraction battery. The entrainment of solution by the granulated liver mass was found by experiment to be as shown in Table 23.5. In the extraction battery, the charge per cell is to be 100 lb. based on completely exhausted livers. The unextracted livers contain 0.043 gal of oil per pound of exhausted material. A 95 percent recovery of oil is desired. The final extract is to contain 0.65 gal of oil per gallon of extract. The ether fed to the system is oil-free. 

(a) How many gallons of ether are needed per charge of livers? 

(b) How many extractors are needed?

Table 23.5

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TABLE 23.5 Solution retained by 1 lb exhausted livers, gal 0.035 0.042 0.050 0.058 Solution concentration, gal oil/gal solution 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 Solution retained by 1 lb exhausted livers, gal 0.068 0.081 0.099 0.120 Solution concentration. gal oil/gal solution 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.68