Abstract
The accumulation of carbonaceous deposits on surfaces exposed to gases containing hydrocarbons or carbon monoxide is an undesirable phenomenon which can cause contamination of, for example, steel containment vessels and catalyst surfaces. It has been found1 to occur also in certain conditions on the steel fuel pins of the Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (AGR). Although in this instance it can be prevented by controlling the coolant composition, there is a strong motivation to understand the basic mechanisms involved. We show here, principally by means of a radio-frequency (r.f.) plasma-discharge system incorporating spectrographic analysis, that the deposits are formed largely as a result of the catalytic activities of the exposed surfaces (even here in the presence of highly ionized gases) and that deposition can be prevented by suitable coatings. These findings have now been confirmed by in-reactor experiments.
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References
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Cairns, J., Coad, J., Richards, E. et al. Carbon deposition on metallic surfaces studied by r.f. plasma discharge. Nature 288, 686–687 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/288686a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/288686a0
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