A reappraisal of convection heat transfer in the cone calorimeter

The problem of estimating the convection heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) in the Cone Calorimeter (horizontal sample orientation) is revisited. In this contribution the CHTC is modelled by a Nusselt number correlation of the form Nu=CRan, where Ra is the Rayleigh number. The parameters C and n are estimated using optimisation techniques applied to two different heat transfer models—one that assumes the sample is perfectly insulated on its unexposed face and the other that includes heat transfer to the insulation layer beneath the test sample. The results suggest that the insulation layer influences the derived values of CHTC and this observation is explored.