Thermal–electric numerical simulation of a target for the production of radioactive ion beams

The production target is the core of the facilities aimed at the production of Radioactive Ion Beams. In the facility analysed in this paper, a proton beam directly impinges a target made of uranium carbide that generates the radioactive isotopes needed to produce Radioactive Ion Beams. To work properly, the target has to maintain the average temperature of two thousands Celsius degrees, but the proton beam power is not sufficient to maintain this temperature level; as a consequence an electric heating device has to be added. In this work the production target and its heating system are analysed by means of both analytic and numerical thermal–electric models. In particular, the numerical model was implemented by means of a commercial finite element code and fully coupled thermal–electric analyses were performed with a proper solution method for the radiative heat transfer problem. Theoretical results have been compared with experimental data in terms of temperature and electric potential difference, showing the substantial reliability of both the analytic and the numerical models. Subsequent to the validation of the finite element model, a sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the influence of some design variables and construction details on the target temperature distribution.