Validation of electro-thermal simulation with experimental data to prepare online operation of a molten salt target at ISOLDE for the Beta Beams

The main objective of the Beta Beams is to study oscillation property of pure electrons neutrinos. It produces high energy beams of pure electron neutrinos and anti-neutrinos for oscillation experiments by beta decay of He-6 and Ne-18 radioactive ion beams, stored in a decay ring at gamma = 100. The production of He-6 beam has already been accomplished using a thick beryllium oxide target. However, the production of the needed rate of Ne-18 has proven to be more challenging. In order to achieve the requested yield for Ne-18 a new high power target design based on a circulating molten salt loop has been proposed. To verify some elements of the design, a static molten salt target prototype has been developed at ISOLDE and operated successfully. This paper describes the electro-thermal study of the molten salt target taking into account the heat produced by Joule effect, radiative heat exchange, active water cooling due to forced convection and air passive cooling due to natural convection. The numerical results were compared with the available experimental data in order to validate the model. This approach allows one to improve the reliability of the model, which will help to predict the thermo-mechanical impact of the required targets for future facilities such as HIE-ISOLDE and the Beta-Beams. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.