Alexandria Engineering Journal (Oct 2023)
First order chemical reaction response in mixed convective Falkner-Skan Sutterby fluid with Cattaneo-Christov heat and mass flux model
Abstract
The complex phenomenon of heat transfer plays a pivotal role in a broad spectrum of mechanical and industrial applications, ranging from space and nuclear reactor cooling to medicinal applications like magnetic drug targeting, energy production, heat conduction in biological tissues, among others. Historically, Fourier's law of heat conduction has served as a predictive model for heat transfer in numerous practical scenarios. However, this model's limitation is its generation of a parabolic energy expression, implying an immediate influence on the system by any initial disturbance. Numerous researchers have attempted to address this issue, leading to the Cattaneo's modification to Fourier's law, which introduces a relaxation time for heat flux, meaning the time needed to achieve stable heat conduction following the imposition of a temperature gradient. Christov later tweaked this model into a material invariant version, integrating the upper-connected derivative from the Oldroyd model. These models, now collectively termed as the Cattaneo-Christov (CC) model, form the core of the present study. In this study, we explore the mixed convective MHD Falkner-Skan Suttberby nanofluid flow towards a wedge surface, in the presence of a mixed convection. A two-phase nanofluid based C–C model is utilized to apply the nano-concept. The nonlinear equation system is solved using the bvp4c technique in MATLAB. The effects of various parameters including the magnetic field strength, wedge angle, nanoparticle volume fraction, and Prandtl number on the velocity and temperature profiles are discussed. The results show that the velocity increases with the magnetic parameter, wedge angle, and nanoparticle fraction, while the temperature decreases or increases depending on the suction or injection conditions. The Nusselt numbers and solutal transport rate are also reported for different parameter values. Overall, the study demonstrates that the non-Fourier C–C model yields significantly different solutal and heat transfer characteristics compared to the classical Fourier law. The results provide useful insights into the heat transfer behavior of nanofluids in stagnation point flows over geometries with complex shapes, which have practical applications in areas such as aerodynamics and thermal management of electronic devices.
