Semi-analytical multiple solutions for nanofluid flow and heat transfer
past a shrinking surface within porous media
Abstract
A considerable amount of the energy consumption has indeed been affected
in industry by friction and inefficient heat transfer. One promising way
of overcoming this deficiency of ordinary heat transferring fluids is to
use the nanoparticles. Recently, several studies have documented that
nanofluid, formed by adding the nanoparticles to the base fluid, can
significantly improve the thermal efficiency of these base fluids. In
this communication, we present a numerical study for two-dimensional
flow of Graphene-oxide (GO)/water nanofluids generated by a
stretching/shrinking surface in the presence of porous media. The heat
transfer analysis is further investigated under the influence of second
order partial slip and mass suction. The current problem is governed by
a system of partial differential equations which are derived using
conservation laws and Boussinesq-approximations. These non-linear
governing equations are converted into a set of ordinary differential
equations with the help of similarity transformations. Multiple
solutions are achieved analytically for flow fields while numerically
for temperature fields. Numerical simulations are conducted using
boundary value problem solver (bvp4c) in MATLAB. The influences of
various physical parameters, for instance, nanoparticles volume
fraction, porosity parameter, suction parameter, first and second-order
slip parameters as well as Prandtl number on momentum and thermal
boundary layers are presented graphically in detail. It is observed that
the solution domain is significantly widen by increasing the
nanoparticles volume fraction.