Comparative study of the oxidation of toluene and the three isomers of xylene

These data present an experimental study of the oxidation of toluene, ortho‑xylene, meta-xylene, and para-xylene in a jet-stirred reactor. In order to facilitate comparisons, the same experimental conditions were used for the four reactants, i.e. temperatures from 600 to 1200 K, a pressure of 1.07 bar, a residence time of 2 s, an initial fuel mole fraction of 0.005, and equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1 and 2. Compared to literature studies using the same type of reactor, due to higher residence time and initial fuel mole fraction, a higher number of aromatic products was observed and some reactivity was observed at lower temperatures, especially for ortho-xylene, which started to react from 700 K. For this fuel, the formation of phthalan, an aromatic compound including an oxetane ring and indicating low‑temperature oxidation chemistry, was confirmed.