Experimental kinetic study of the oxidation of p-xylene in a JSR and comprehensive detailed chemical kinetic modeling

The oxidation of para-xylene was studied in a jet-stirred reactor at atmospheric pressure under dilute conditions. New experimental results were obtained over the high-temperature range 900–1300 K, and variable equivalence ratios (0.5(les than)(phi)(less than)1.5). They consisted of concentration profiles of the reactants, stable intermediates, and final products, measured by sonic probe sampling followed by on-line GC-MS and off-line GC-TCD-FID and GC-MS analyses. The oxidation of para-xylene under these conditions was modeled using a detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanism (160 species and 1175 reactions, most of them reversible) deriving from a previous scheme proposed for the ignition, oxidation, and combustion of simple aromatics (benzene, toluene, styrene, n-propylbenzene). The proposed kinetic scheme was also successfully tested against the ignition delays of (rho)-xylene–oxygen–argon mixtures, and the combustion of (rho)-xylene in a low-pressure methane–oxygen–nitrogen flame doped with (rho)-xylene, confirming its validity. Sensitivity analyses and reaction path analyses, based on rates of reaction, were used to interpret the results.