Is it possible that this component has been heavily weathered, possibly in contact with some form of alkali, e.g. NaOH? This looks like it could be smut. May be worth considering, if so, then desmutting processes are avaliable.
It is quite unusual, do you happen to know the composition of the foam, is the evaporator in a sulphur rich air environment?
You say that the tube is leaking the working fluid?
It would be quite straightforward to take a very small deposit sample of the black stuff, and conduct a chemical analysis to gauge an idea of what it may be.