Pyrometric cone equivalent: a test, ASTM C24, in which a small cone formed from the ground refractory is heated alongside standard pyrometric cones, and the PCE is the number of the standard cone that bends over in step with it. It measures softening under heat alone, not a safe operating temperature. Fireclay brick classes are partly defined by it, with super duty brick required to reach cone 33.
Clay from the new pit only makes PCE 31, so it can't go into super duty brick.
Also heard as
- pyrometric cone equivalent
- cone value
- cone
Related terms
Refractoriness
Ability of a material to withstand high temperature without softening or melting.
Fireclay
Alumina-silica clay refractory, the classic firebrick, graded from low duty to super duty.
RUL
Refractoriness under load: the temperature at which a refractory starts to deform under a small steady load.