COAL-CONVERSION GASIFIER CONDENSATE 205 



One of the more promising coal-to-gas schemes is the Synthane 

 gasification process, which encompasses basically four steps: (1) pre- 

 treatment; (2) gasification; (3) purification; and (4) methanation to 

 produce a medium-Btu gas (for a review of this process, see Forney 

 et al., 1974). A potential effluent is the contaminated condensate 

 from the gasifier (Forney et al., 1974). Chemical analyses of this 

 aqueous effluent (Forney et al., 1974; Schmidt, Sharkey, and 

 Friedel, 1974; Ho, Clark, and Guerin, 1976) show it to be a potential 

 environmental and health hazard since it contains large quantities of 

 phenolic compounds. 



The ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis has been used as a test 

 organism and model to study the effects of trace elements (Carter 

 and Cameron, 1973; Tingle, Paulet, and Cameron, 1973) and organic 

 compounds (Gray and Kennedy, 1974; Schultz and Dumont, 1977). 

 It provides a rapid and inexpensive means of analyzing several 

 parameters of cellular effects of potential pollutants. This paper 

 reports some lethal and sublethal effects of untreated laboratory- 

 scale Synthane gasifier condensate on Tetrahymena. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



General 



Tetrahymena pyriformis, strain GL-C, were grown in axenic 

 cultures in a semidefined proteose peptone medium (Schultz and 

 Dumont, 1977). Cultures were grown without shaking in 500-ml 

 Erlenmeyer flasks containing 100 ml of medium in a 28° C water 

 bath. Stationary-grovvi:h-phase cultures (3 to 4 days old, with 90,000 

 cells/ ml) were used throughout the investigation. The Synthane 

 process condensate was provided by the Pittsburgh Energy Research 

 Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. 



Behavior 



The behavior of test cells was observed with a phase-contrast 

 microscope immediately after the test solutions were added, and the 

 general reactions and appearance of the cells were recorded. 

 Particular attention was paid to changes in shape and motility, and 

 the percent of cells altered was estimated at various times. 



Oxygen Consumption 



The effect of the gasifier condensate on the respiratory rate of 

 Tetrahymena was examined in a respirometer (Gilson Medical 

 Electronics), with the temperature stabilized at 28° C. Reaction flasks 



