Analysis of Unsteady MHD Reactive Flow of Non-Newtonian Fluid Through a Porous Saturated Medium with Asymmetric Boundary Conditions

Abstract

This paper aims to study thermal effects in an unsteady hydromagnetic flow of a pressure-driven, reactive, variable viscosity, electrically conducting third-grade fluid through a porous saturated medium with asymmetrical convective boundary conditions. It is assumed that the chemical kinetics in the flow system is exothermic and that the asymmetric convective heat exchange with the surrounding medium at the surfaces follows Newton’s law of cooling. The coupled nonlinear partial differential equations governing the flow and heat transfer are derived and solved numerically using a semi-implicit finite difference scheme. The flow and heat transfer characteristics are analyzed graphically and discussed for different values of the parameters embedded in the system. One of the major findings in the study is that the thermal criticality values of the reaction parameter increase with the magnetic field intensity and the tortuosity of the porous medium .