Comparison of Growth Characteristics and Properties of CVD TiN and TiO2 Anti-Coking Coatings

Abstract

Coating metals with anti-coking materials inhibit their catalytic coking and are especially beneficial in the pyrolysis of hydrocarbon fuels. It is believed that growth characteristics and properties may play a pivotal role in the anti-coking performance of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) coatings. In this study, TiN and TiO2 coatings were obtained by CVD using TiCl4–N2–H2 and TiCl4–H2–CO2 systems, respectively. The effects of deposition time, residence time, and partial pressure were examined, and the coating microstructure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results reveal that the effect of deposition parameters on the growth characteristics of TiN and TiO2 coatings is very different. The growth of the TiN coating shows characteristics of the island growth model, while the TiO2 coating follows the layer model. In general, the growth rate of the star-shaped TiN crystals is higher than that of crystals of other shapes. For the TiO2 coating, the layer mode growth characteristics indicate that the morphology of the TiO2 coating does not change significantly with the experimental conditions. Coking tests showed that the morphology of non-catalytic cokes is not only affected by the temperature, pressure, and coking precursor, but is also closely related to the surface state of the coatings. Both TiN and TiO2 coatings can effectively prevent catalytic coking and eliminate filamentous cokes. In some cases, however, the N or O atoms in the TiN and TiO2 coatings may affect common carbon deposits formed by non-catalytic coking, such as formation of needle-like and flaky carbon deposits.