Thermal Instability in a Porous Medium Layer Saturated with a Viscoelastic Nanofluid

The onset of convection in a horizontal layer of a porous medium saturated with a viscoelastic nanofluid was studied in this article. The modified Darcy model was applied to simulate the momentum equation in porous media. An Oldroyd-B type constitutive equation was used to describe the rheological behavior of viscoelastic nanofluids. The model used for the viscoelastic nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The onset criterion for stationary and oscillatory convection was analytically derived. The effects of the concentration Rayleigh number, Prandtl number, Lewis number, capacity ratio, relaxation, and retardation parameters on the stability of the system were investigated. Oscillatory instability is possible in both bottom- and top-heavy nanoparticle distributions. Results indicated that there is competition among the processes of thermophoresis, Brownian diffusion, and viscoelasticity that causes the convection to set in through oscillatory rather than stationary modes. Regimes of stationary and oscillatory convection for various parameters were derived and are discussed in detail.     

The Onset of Convection in a Layer of a Porous Medium Saturated by a Nanofluid: Effects of Conductivity and Viscosity Variation and Cross-Diffusion

The linear stability theory for the Horton–Rogers–Lapwood problem is extended to the case where the porous medium is saturated by a nanofluid with thermal conductivity and viscosity dependent on the nanoparticle volume fraction. The effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis are considered. In conjunction with the Brownian motion, the nanoparticle fraction becomes stratified, and hence the viscosity and the conductivity are stratified. The nanofluid is assumed to be dilute and this enables the porous medium to be treated as a weakly heterogeneous medium with variation, in the vertical direction, of conductivity and viscosity. In turn this allows an approximate analytical solution to be obtained.     

Analysis of periodic and aperiodic convective stability of double diffusive nanofluid convection in rotating porous layer

The onset of periodic and aperiodic convection in a binary nanofluid saturated rotating porous layer is studied considering constant flux boundary conditions. The porous medium obeys Darcy’s law, while the nanofluid envisages the effects of the Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The Rayleigh numbers for stationary and oscillatory convection are obtained in terms of various non-dimensional parameters. The effect of the involved physical parameters on the aperiodic convection is studied graphically. The results are validated in comparison with the published literature in limiting cases of the present study.     

The Effect of Vertical Throughflow on Thermal Instability in a Porous Medium Layer Saturated by a Nanofluid

The effect of vertical throughflow on the onset of convection in a horizontal layer of a porous medium saturated by a nanofluid is studied analytically. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The dependences of the critical Rayleigh number for the non-oscillatory and oscillatory modes of instability on the thermophoresis and Brownian motion parameters for the cases with and without throughflow are investigated.     

Thermal instability in a rotating anisotropic porous layer saturated by a viscoelastic fluid

Linear and non-linear thermal instability in a rotating anisotropic porous medium, saturated with viscoelastic fluid, has been investigated for free-free surfaces. The linear theory is being related to the normal mode method and non-linear analysis is based on minimal representation of the truncated Fourier series analysis containing only two terms. The extended Darcy model, which includes the time derivative and Coriolis terms has been employed in the momentum equation. The criteria for both stationary and oscillatory convection is derived analytically. The rotation inhibits the onset of convection in both stationary and oscillatory modes. A weak non-linear theory based on the truncated representation of Fourier series method is used to find the thermal Nusselt number. The transient behaviour of the Nusselt number is also investigated by solving the finite amplitude equations using a numerical method. The results obtained during the analysis have been presented graphically.     

Double-Diffusive Convection in a Saturated Anisotropic Porous Layer with Internal Heat Source

In the present study, double-diffusive convection in an anisotropic porous layer with an internal heat source, heated and salted from below, has been investigated. The generalized Darcy model is employed for the momentum equation. The fluid and solid phases are considered to be in equilibrium. Linear and nonlinear stability analyses have been performed. For linear theory normal mode technique has been used, while nonlinear analysis is based on a minimal representation of truncated Fourier series. Heat and mass transfers across the porous layer have been obtained in terms of Nusselt number Nu and Sherwood number Sh, respectively. The effects of internal Rayleigh number, anisotropy parameters, concentration Rayleigh number, and Vadasz number on stationary, oscillatory, and weak nonlinear convection are shown graphically. The transient behaviors of Nusselt number and Sherwood number have been investigated by solving the finite amplitude equations using a numerical method. Streamlines, isotherms, and isohalines are drawn for both steady and unsteady (time-dependent) cases. The results obtained, during the above analyses, have been presented graphically, and the effects of various parameters on heat and mass transfers have been discussed.     

Laminar MHD natural convection of nanofluid containing gyrotactic microorganisms over vertical wavy surface saturated non-Darcian porous media

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) bioconvection of an incompressible electrically conducting nanofluid near a vertical wavy surface saturated porous medium containing both nanoparticle and gyrotactic microorganisms is investigated. The nanofluid is represented by a model that includes both Brownian motion and thermophoresis effects. A suitable set of non-dimensional variables are used to transform the governing boundary layer equations into a dimensionless form. The resulting nonlinear system is mapped to the vertical flat plate domain, and a non-similar solution is used to the obtained equations. The obtained non-similar system is then solved numerically using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. The influence of various physical parameters on the local Nusselt number, the local Sherwood number, the local density number of the motile microorganisms, the dimensionless velocity, the dimensionless temperature, and the rescaled density of motile microorganisms is studied. It is found that the local Nusselt number, the local Sherwood number, and the local density number of the motile microorganisms decrease by increasing either the Grashof number or the magnetic field parameter.     

Non-similar Solution for Natural Convective Boundary Layer Flow Over a Sphere Embedded in a Porous Medium Saturated with a Nanofluid

A boundary layer analysis is presented for the natural convection past an isothermal sphere in a Darcy porous medium saturated with a nanofluid. Numerical results for friction factor, surface heat transfer rate, and mass transfer rate have been presented for parametric variations of the buoyancy ratio parameter N _r, Brownian motion parameter N _b, thermophoresis parameter N _t, and Lewis number L _e. The dependency of the friction factor, surface heat transfer rate (Nusselt number), and mass transfer rate (Sherwood number) on these parameters has been discussed.     

Non-linear Convective Transport in a Binary Nanofluid Saturated Porous Layer

In this article, we study double-diffusive convection in a horizontal porous medium saturated by a nanofluid, for the case when the base fluid of the nanofluid is itself a binary fluid such as salty water. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis, while the Darcy model is used for the porous medium. The thermal energy equations include the diffusion and cross-diffusion terms. The linear stability is studied using normal mode technique and for non-linear analysis, a minimal representation of the truncated Fourier series analysis involving only two terms has been used. For linear theory analysis, critical Rayleigh number has been obtained, while non-linear analysis has been done in terms of the Nusselt numbers.     

Radiation effects on mixed convection about a cone embedded in a porous medium filled with a nanofluid

The problem of steady, laminar, mixed convection boundary-layer flow over a vertical cone embedded in a porous medium saturated with a nanofluid is studied, in the presence of thermal radiation. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis with Rosseland diffusion approximation. The cone surface is maintained at a constant temperature and a constant nanoparticle volume fraction. The resulting governing equations are non-dimensionalized and transformed into a non-similar form and then solved by Keller box method. A comparison is made with the available results in the literature, and our results are in very good agreement with the known results. A parametric study of the physical parameters is made and a representative set of numerical results for the local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are presented graphically. Also, the salient features of the results are analyzed and discussed.     

Radiation Effects on Mixed Convection over a Wedge Embedded in a Porous Medium Filled with a Nanofluid

The problem of steady, laminar, mixed convection boundary-layer flow over an isothermal vertical wedge embedded in a porous medium saturated with a nanofluid is studied, in the presence of thermal radiation. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis with Rosseland diffusion approximation. The wedge surface is maintained at a constant temperature and a constant nanoparticle volume fraction. The resulting governing equations are non-dimensionalized and transformed into a non-similar form and then solved by Keller box method. A comparison is made with the available results in the literature, and our results are in very good agreement with the known results. A parametric study of the physical parameters is made, and a representative set of numerical results for the velocity, temperature, and volume fraction, the local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are presented graphically. The salient features of the results are analyzed and discussed.     

Effect of local thermal non-equilibrium on unsteady heat transfer by natural convection of a nanofluid over a vertical wavy surface

This paper uses thermal non-equilibrium model to study transient heat transfer by natural convection of a nanofluid over a vertical wavy surface. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. Three-temperature model is applied to represent the local thermal non-equilibrium among the particle, fluid, and solid-matrix phases. Finite difference method is used to solve the dimensionless governing equations of the problem. The obtained results are displayed in 2D graphs to illustrate the influences of the different physical parameters on local skin-friction coefficient, local Nusselt numbers for fluid, particle and solid phases and local Sherwood number. The results for velocity component, nanoparticle volume fraction, fluid temperature, particle temperature and solid-matrix temperature are presented in 3D graphs as a function of the axial and transverse coordinates. All the obtained results are discussed.     

Non-Linear Two Dimensional Double Diffusive Convection in a Rotating Porous Layer Saturated by a Viscoelastic Fluid

Double diffusive convection in a rotating anisotropic porous layer, saturated by a viscoelastic fluid, heated from below and cooled from above has been studied making linear and non-linear stability analyses. The fluid and solid phases are considered to be in equilibrium. In momentum equation, we have employed the Darcy equation which includes both time derivative and Coriolis terms. The linear theory based on normal mode method is considered to find the criteria for the onset of stationary and oscillatory convection. A weak non-linear analysis based on minimal representation of truncated Fourier series analysis containing only two terms has been used to find the Nusselt number and Sherwood number as functions of time. We have solved the finite amplitude equations using a numerical scheme. The results obtained, during the above analyses, have been presented graphically and the effects of various parameters on heat and mass transfer have been discussed. Finally, we have drawn the steady and unsteady streamlines, isotherms, and isohalines for various parameters.     

Effects of Brownian Motion and Thermophoresis on the Mixed Convection of Nanofluid in a Porous Channel Including Flow Reversal

This article is devoted to combined convection heat transfer of nanofluids through a vertical channel filled with a homogeneous and isotropic porous medium. The flow is assumed to be fully developed and the “Brinkman extended Darcy” model is used for the flow in the porous media and “clear compatible” viscous dissipation model is considered. Also the model utilized for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The governing momentum, energy, and nanopartices volume fraction equations are solved both analytically and numerically. The effects of the influential dimensionless parameters such as Brownian and thermophoresis parameters, mixed convection parameter (Gr/Re), Brinkman, Darcy and Lewis numbers on dimensionless velocity and temperature distributions and pressure drop are studied. Also, the results of the Nusselt number for the both left and right walls are presented and discussed.     

Stability analysis of soret-driven double-diffusive convection of Maxwell fluid in a porous medium

Stability analysis of double-diffusive convection for viscoelastic fluid with Soret effect in a porous medium is investigated using a modified-Maxwell-Darcy model. We use the linear stability analysis to investigate how the Soret parameter and the relaxation time of viscoelastic fluid effect the onset of convection and the selection of an unstable wavenumber. It is found that the Soret effect is to destabilize the system for oscillatory convection. The relaxation time also enhances the instability of the system. The effects of Soret coefficient and relaxation time on the heat transfer rate in a porous medium are studied using the nonlinear stability analysis, the variation of the Nusselt number with respect to the Rayleigh number is derived for stationary and oscillatory convection modes. Some previous results can be reduced as the special cases of the present paper.     

Natural convection in a rotating anisotropic porous layer with internal heat generation

In this article, linear and nonlinear thermal instability in a rotating anisotropic porous layer with heat source has been investigated. The extended Darcy model, which includes the time derivative and Coriolis term has been employed in the momentum equation. The linear theory has been performed by using normal mode technique, while nonlinear analysis is based on minimal representation of the truncated Fourier series having only two terms. The criteria for both stationary and oscillatory convection is derived analytically. The rotation inhibits the onset of convection in both stationary and oscillatory modes. Effects of parameters on critical Rayleigh number has also been investigated. A weak nonlinear analysis based on the truncated representation of Fourier series method has been used to find the Nusselt number. The transient behavior of the Nusselt number has also been investigated by solving the finite amplitude equations using a numerical method. Steady and unsteady streamlines, and isotherms have been drawn to determine the nature of flow pattern. The results obtained during the analysis have been presented graphically.     

Radiative heat transfer in a hydromagnetic nanofluid past a non-linear stretching surface with convective boundary condition

Heat transfer characteristics of a two-dimensional steady hydromagnetic natural convection flow of nanofluids over a non-linear stretching sheet taking into account the effects of radiation and convective boundary condition has been investigated numerically. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The local similarity solutions are obtained by using very robust computer algebra software Maple 13. The results corresponding to the dimensionless temperature profiles and the reduced Nusselt number, Sherwood number and skin friction coefficient are displayed graphically for various pertinent parameters. The results show that temperature within the boundary layer is enhanced with the increase of the Biot number, buoyancy due to nanoparticle concentration, strength of the applied magnetic field, Brownian motion parameter, and thermophoresis parameter. An opposite trend is observed for the increase of the buoyancy due to temperature, stretching index, and the radiation parameter. The results also show that the local rate of heat transfer strongly depends on the nonlinear stretching index, radiation parameter, Biot number, Brownian motion parameter, and thermophoresis parameter.     

The onset of double diffusive convection in a viscoelastic fluid layer

The onset of double diffusive convection in a viscoelastic fluid layer is studied using a linear and a weak nonlinear stability analyses. The onset criterion for stationary, oscillatory and finite amplitude convection is derived analytically. There is a competition between the processes of thermal diffusion, solute diffusion and viscoelasticity that causes the convection to set in through oscillatory mode rather than stationary. The effect of Deborah number, retardation parameter, solutal Rayleigh number, Prandtl number, Lewis number on the stability of the system is investigated. It is shown that the critical frequency increases with Deborah number and solutal Rayleigh number while it decreases with retardation parameter and Lewis number. The nonlinear theory based on the truncated representation of Fourier series method is used to find the heat and mass transfers. The transient behaviour of the Nusselt number and Sherwood number is investigated by solving the finite amplitude equations using Runge-Kutta method. The effect of viscoelastic parameters on heat and mass transfer is brought out.     

Transient natural convection flow of a nanofluid over a vertical cylinder

An analysis is performed to study unsteady free convective boundary layer flow of a nanofluid over a vertical cylinder. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The governing equations are formulated and a numerical solution is obtained by using an explicit finite-difference scheme of the Crank-Nicolson type. The solutions at each time step have been found to reach the steady state solution properly. Numerical results for the steady-state velocity, temperature and nanoparticles volume fraction profiles as well as the axial distributions and the time histories of the skin-friction coefficient, Nusselt number and the Sherwood number are presented graphically and discussed.     

Thermal Instability in a Porous Medium Layer Saturated by a Nanofluid: Brinkman Model

The onset of convection in a horizontal layer of a porous medium saturated by a nanofluid is studied analytically. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. For the porous medium, the Brinkman model is employed. Three cases of free–free, rigid–rigid, and rigid–free boundaries are considered. The analysis reveals that for a typical nanofluid (with large Lewis number), the prime effect of the nanofluids is via a buoyancy effect coupled with the conservation of nanoparticles, whereas the contribution of nanoparticles to the thermal energy equation is a second-order effect. It is found that the critical thermal Rayleigh number can be reduced or increased by a substantial amount, depending on whether the basic nanoparticle distribution is top-heavy or bottom-heavy, by the presence of the nanoparticles. Oscillatory instability is possible in the case of a bottom-heavy nanoparticle distribution.