Numerical simulations of third-grade fluid flow with exothermic reactions in porous media-saturated vertical microchannels

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the electro-osmotic flow behavior of a third-grade (TG) incompressible fluid flowing in a vertical microchannel saturated with porous material. The electro-osmotic flow is regarded as an essential part of many scientific and engineering applications used in microfluidic devices. The flow is subjected to joule heating, exothermic reactions, and asymmetrical convective cooling. The viscosity which is assumed temperature dependent via a Naham-type law and the convective heat transfer rates governing the asymmetric convective cooling at the microchannel walls are modeled via Newton’s law of cooling. The governing system of nonlinear partial differential equations is solved computationally using an efficient and reliable finite difference method. The spatial and temporal convergence of the numerical scheme is showcased graphically. Our study findings reveal that the combination of exothermic reactions and Joule heating significantly influences the electroosmotic flow. Higher values of variable viscosity parameter (α), Brinkman number (Br), and Buoyancy parameter (Gr) result an enhancement in the flow variables. Conversely, a reverse trend is observed when augmenting the Prandtl number (Pr), non-Newtonian parameter (γ), and porous media parameters (Ω2). Numerical results for temperature and velocity are also discussed qualitatively and validated with the data previously published.