Unwanted deposition of carbonaceous material from the vapor phase is a chronic problem in piping and equipment downstream of coking units and may be a limitation to achieving longer run length. The laboratory deposits were found to exhibit major differences from those in industry. An aging study was conducted to rationalize these differences. After days to weeks of aging at elevated temperature, the laboratory deposits become very similar to those of the graphitic industrial deposits. The differences in morphology that remain after aging were attributed to differences in hydrodynamic conditions during the deposit laydown. During aging, the composition and structure of deposits change with the time. This process includes complex chemical reactions and finally leads to more condensed polyaromatic and graphitic structures. Deposit aging kinetics was also studied through thermogravimetric analysis. Deposit characterization and kinetic studies yielded a consistent picture of the evolution from the heavy fluid phase components, which initially deposit from the vapor due to physical condensation, to the final massive, graphitic, coke-like solids found in industrial units. This structural evolution is described following the Marsh-Griffiths model.