Effects Of Chemical Reaction On MHD Stagnation Flow And Heat Transfer Of

Nanofluid Over A Shrinking Surface

1

Izzatun Nazurah Binti Zaimuddin, 2Professor Dr Ramasamy Kandasamy

Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja, Johor, Malaysia
izzatunnazurah@gmail.com
Abstact

Motivated by the steady of two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic problem on stagnation

flow and heat transfer with the presence of chemical reaction and thermal radiation, a
nanofluid over a shrinking surface is investigated numerically. The report also includes the
influence of water-based nanofluid. The governing partial differential equations are transform
into ordinary differential equation for a more compatible form in numerical computation by
using a similarity transformation. The results of ordinary differential equations are solved by
shooting technique. Meanwhile, a similarity solution which depends on the parameters such
as magnetic (M), radiation (R), Brownian motion number (Nb), thermophoresis number (Nt),
Prandtl number (Pr), Lewis number (Le) and the ratio of the rate constants of the shrinking
velocity to the free stream velocity () is presented. To observe physical insight and
interesting aspects of the problem in the presence of thermal radiation and chemical reaction,
the behaviour of multiple solution branches are numerically studied and displayed graphically
for pertinent parameters. It is further noticed that concentration profile is strongly influenced
by chemical reaction. Meanwhile, the Lewis number show an influential of chemical reaction
through the velocity, temperature, concentration, wall shear stress, the Nusselt number and the
Sherwood number. The results were displayed in tables and graphs.
Keywords: Chemical Reaction, Heat Transfer, Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), Nanofluid,
Stagnation Flow.

Introduction
Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) is the study of the magnetic properties of electrically
conducting fluids. The study of MHD is very important especially in the heat and the mass
transport process. Whereas heat transfer commonly use in area of fluid dynamic research
nowadays. The presence of magnetic field in fluid have significantly in practical applications
especially in science, engineering and industry. According to Etwire, Seini and Arthur (2014),
it is encountered in nuclear power plants, cooling of transmission lines and in electric
transformers.
Nanofluid consist of nanoparticles suspended in a liquid medium and the particle size
is smaller than 100 nm (Sreelakshmy et al., 2014). By introducing nanofluids into the area of
fluid mechanics and heat transfer, nanofluid itself is a frontier of next class of heat transfer
fluid with the help of fast growth technology. Most of all, nanofluid conquered a better
thermo-physical properties such as thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, viscosity and
heat transfer coefficient as compared to their base fluid. Olanrewaju and Adesanya (2012)
stated that nanofluids have the potential to reduce such thermal resistances, and the industrial
groups that would benefit from such improved heat transfer fluids are quite varied. They
include transportation, electronics, medical, food, and manufacturing of many types.
Other than that, researchers are interested in the study of boundary layer and heat
transfer over a stretching surface due to its excessive applications in industrial and
engineering process. Crane (1970), Gupta (1977), Andersson and Dandapat (1991), Chiam
(1994), Vajravelu (2001), Mahapatra and Gupta (2002), Ishak et al. (2009) and Fang, Zhang
and Yao (2009) are among the various names who had published articles on stretching
surface. For the boundary layer over a shrinking surface, it shows different characteristic from
stretching surface. Physically, a flow is likely to exist toward shrinking surface when
imposing an adequate mass suction on the boundary as mentioned by Miklavcic and Wang
(2006). The phenomena also happened when Wang (2008) considered stagnation flow of
steady two-dimensional and axisymmetric boundary layer in his investigation. Motivated by
those two researchers above, many other researchers nowadays investigate on various aspects
of stagnation flow and heat transfer over a shrinking sheet (see Nandy, Sidui and Mahapatra
(2014b) and Fang (2008)).
Many researchers have conducted a study on the effects of reaction and radiation on
MHD stagnation flow using different mathematical technique due to their wide applications.
Besides, the chemical reaction is a process that is usually characterized by a chemical change
in which the starting materials (reactants) are different from the products. Chemical reactions
tend to involve the motion of electrons, leading to the formation and breaking of chemical
bonds. In this research, a chemical reaction can be generic or distractive. It is depending on
the value of where if >0 or <0 correspond to generic and distractive reactions,
respectively.
For instance, Ishak et al. (2009) investigated MHD stagnation point flow towards a
stretching sheet with the influence of magnetic field. Sahin and Chamkha (2010) analysed the
effects of radiation and chemical reaction on steady mixed convective heat and mass transfer
flow of an optically thin gray gas over an infinite vertical porous plate with constant suction
in presence of transverse magnetic field, and they found that the velocity is reduced
considerably with a rise in the conduction-radiation parameter.
A process by which energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation is called thermal
radiaton. It is emitted by a heated surface in all directions and travels directly to its point of
absorption at the speed of light where thermal radiation does not require an intervening
medium to carry it. Thermal radiation ranges in wavelength from the longest infrared rays

through the visible-light spectrum to the shortest ultraviolet rays. The intensity and
distribution of radiant energy within this range is governed by the temperature of the emitting
surface also nanoparticles volume fraction. Different effect of thermal radiation can be seen
as in example the case of Copper (Cu) nanoparticle and water based fluid, clear that as the
nanoparticles volume fraction increases, the nanofluid velocity decreases, and the temperature
increases. With the increase of nanoparticles volume, the thermal conductivity increases, and
then the thermal boundary layer thickness increase. Recently, Etwire et al. (2014) investigated
the MHD boundary layer stagnation point flow with radiation and chemical reaction towards
a heated shrinking porous surface. The case of unsteady flow over a shrinking sheet was
investigated by Bachok et al. (2012), Rohni et al. (2012) and Fang et al. (2009). Meanwhile
this paper study on the effects of chemical reaction and thermal radiation on MHD stagnation
flow and heat transfer over a nanofluid on shrinking surface. We extends the work of Nandy
and Pop (2014a) by adding a chemical reaction on MHD stagnation flow over a shrinking
surface.

Materials & Methods

Fig 1: Physical model and coordinate system for shrinking surface

Consider the steady two-dimensional MHD stagnation-point flow of an incompressible
viscous electrically conducting nanofluid with influence of the thermal radiation and chemical
reaction over a shrinking sheet. Using the standard boundary layer approximation, the
governing equations for mass, momentum, energy and diffusion in boundary layer flow can
be written as:
u v
+
=0 ,(1)
x y
2

u
v
dU
u 0
+v
=U
+v
+
( U u ) ,(2)
2
x
y
dx
f
y

( ) ] ,(3)

2
T
T
T
1 qr
C T DT T
+v
= m 2
+ D B
x
y
y y T y
y f c p y

C
C
2 C D T 2 T
+v
=D B
+
K ( CC ) ,(4 )
x
y
y2 T y2

With the following boundary conditions

u=U w ( x )=cx , v =0, T=T w , C=Cw , = py=0 at
u U ( x )=ax , T T , C C

as

y=0 ,(5)

y ,(6)

It is assumed that the velocity of the stretching/shrinking sheet is

uw ( x ) =cx

and

the velocity outside the boundary layer is U ( x ) =ax where a and c are constants
with a>0 . Describing u and v as the velocity components along the x and y
directions, respectively, U (x ) is the free stream velocity, K is the rate of chemical
is the fluid temperature and C is the nanoparticle volume fraction, is
the electrical conductivity of the fluid, is the kinematic viscosity, m is the thermal
diffusivity, f is the density of the base fluid, D B is the Brownian diffusion coefficient,
reaction,

DT

is the thermophoresis diffusion coefficient, c p is the specific heat at constant

pressure, q r is the radiative heat flux and is the ratio of the effective heat capacity of the
nanoparticle material to the heat capacity of the ordinary fluid. It is assumed that the wall
temperature T w and the nanoparticle volume fraction C w are constant at the surface.
Also when y tends to infinity, the ambient values of the temperature and the nanoparticle
volume fraction attain to constant values of T and C , respectively.
Now we introduce the radiative heat flux,

qr

described by Rosseland approximation

(Brewster 1972) such that

q r=

4 T 4
,(7)
3 k1 y
Where

is the Stefan-Boltzman constant and

coefficient. We also have equation

T

( 3.08 )

qr 16 T 3 2 T
=
, (8)
y
3 k1
y2

is the mean absorption

from Taylor series expansion of

and neglected the higher order terms where

temperature is difference within the flow

k1

T 4 T T 3 T

T4

using

by assuming the

( 1 ) , ( 2 ) ,(3)

Eventually the equations from

and

(4 )

are partial differential

equations. The equations can be satisfied by transforming the partial differential equations
into nonlinear ordinary differential equations by using the stream function, steady state flow
and the dimensionless variables as follows:
The stream function (x , y ) is defined such that
u=

v =
,( 9)
y
x
With the steady state flow

= y

T T
CC
a
, = a xf ( ) , ( )=
, ()=
,( 10)

T w T
C w C
(10)

By substituting equation

into equations ( 1 )(4) , we obtain the

corresponding nonlinear ordinary differential equation:

F + FF F 2+ M ( 1F ) +1=0 ,(11)
1
1+4 R /3 )
Pr (

F'

Nt
Nb

Nb ' ' +

Nt ' 2 = 0 ,

(12)

'

LeF Le

=0,

(13)
Here primes denote differentiation with respect to . is the reaction-rate
parameter, M is the dimensionless magnetic parameter, R is the thermal radiation
parameter, Pr is the Prandtl number and Nb is the Brownian motion parameter, Nt
is the thermophoresis parameter and is the Lewis number, which are defined as
02
4 T 3

K
M=
, Pr= , R=
,
, = ,
f a
m
3 k1 m
DB
a
Nb=

D B (C w C )
D T (T w T )
, Nt=
.(14 )

The corresponding of boundary conditions are

c
F ( 0 ) =0, F ' ( 0 )== , ( 0 )=1, ( 0 ) =1,
a
F' ( ) 1, ( ) 0, ( ) 0

as

,(15)

where

is the ratio of the rates of the stretching/shrinking velocity and the free stream
velocity. We note that c >0 and c <0 correspond to stretching and shrinking sheets,
respectively. We have to substitute the equations ( 11 )(13) into first order derivative in
order to solve numerical solution by using software. Hence we get,
f ' =u ,u' =v , v ' ()=fv+u2 M ( 1u )1 ,(16)
' =r , r ' =

1
1
4R
1+
Pr
3

[ fr+ Nbrh+ Nt r 2 ] ,(17)

Therefore we got,
' =h , h' =Lefh+ Leq

Where

Pr eff =

Nt
(Pr eff [ fr+ Nbrh + Nt r 2 ] ) ,(18)
Nb

Pr
.
4R
1+
3

The solution is finalised in the value of the skin friction, f ' ' (0) , rate of heat transfer,
' (0)

and the rate of mass transfer,

' ( 0 )

which are actually equivalent to the

following equations:
1

x1 /2 C F =f ' ' ( 0 ) , Nux x1 /2=' ( 0 ) , Sh x x 2 = ' ( 0 ) (19)

Where

x =U ( x ) x / is the local Reynolds number based on the free stream velocity

U ( x ) . While

C F , Nu x and

Sh x come from physical quantities of the skin friction

coefficient, the local Nusselt number and the local Sherwood number such that:
CF=

w
2

f U (x)

, Nu x =

x qw
x qm
, Sh x =
(20)
k (T w T )
D B (C w C )

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

Table 1: Variation value of parameters with the effect of chemical reaction when
and =2.0 .
Paramet Valu
er
e

=0.0

f ' ' (0)

' (0)

=0.0

=2.0

' (0)

f ' ' (0)

'(0)

' (0)

0.1
1.0
3.0

Nb

0.1
0.3
0.5

Nt

0.1
0.3
0.5

0.1
3.0
5.0

Le

0.6
1.0
2.3

1.222780
49
1.222780
53
1.222780
65
1.222780
49
1.222780
49
1.222780
49
1.222780
49
1.222780
49
1.222780
48
1.222780
49
3.986872
95
5.059870
57
1.222780
49
1.222780
49
3.533967
05

0.003189
24
0.037593
87
0.108777
43
0.005391
17
0.003156
65
0.001801
25
0.005391
17
0.003302
79
0.002074
22
0.005391
17
0.260416
25
0.361360
65
0.005524
71
0.005391
17
0.213007
04

0.292253
58
0.283274
07
0.231148
89
0.293519
52
0.187122
39
0.165957
32
0.293519
52
0.574576
29
0.821084
99
0.293519
52
0.497344
48
0.478103
46
0.337611
93
0.293519
52
0.501180
97

1.222780
48
1.222780
49
1.222780
53
1.222780
48
1.222780
48
1.222780
48
1.222780
48
1.222780
48
1.222780
48
1.222780
48
3.986872
95
5.059870
57
1.222780
48
1.222780
48
1.222780
48

0.002609
03
0.034028
54
0.103907
44
0.004501
65
0.001817
48
0.000073
06
0.004501
65
0.002868
00
0.001903
83
0.004501
65
0.217673
98
0.304119
52
0.004595
55
0.004501
65
0.004417
66

Table 1 listed value of the skin friction, f ' ' (0) , rate of heat transfer,
'
rate of mass transfer, ( 0 )

1.333811
41
1.346692
31
1.334256
85
1.336566
34
1.300314
63
1.293006
86
1.336566
34
1.417159
73
1.471656
43
1.336566
34
1.557696
28
1.567539
45
1.041137
67
1.336566
34
1.932762
69

' (0)

and the

due to the effect of variation parameters. During the increase

value of R, Nb and Nt, the skin frictions are in uniform value from =0.0 and =2.0 .
The skin frictions are increasing with the increment of variation of magnetic parameter as the
chemical reaction generate. Meanwhile in Lewis number when =0.0 shows that the skin
frictions increase after the magnetic parameter value > 1.0 and the skin frictions are in
uniform value when =2.0 . As for the rate of heat transfer, both at =0.0 and
=2.0 shows the increment of ' (0) as the value of R and M increase. In Hady et al
(2012) research, he said that water based fluid has a lower value of temperature distribution
rather than other nanoparticles. The increase value of Nb and Nt makes ' (0) decrease
when

=0.0 and

=2.0 . While for Le parameter has an increase of

' (0)

when

=0.0 and decrease of

' (0)

=2.0

as Le parameter increase. Furthermore as R

and Nb values increase, the rate of mass transfer decrease. Nt, M and Le parameters have an
increment of rate of mass transfer as their parameter values increase.

Fig 2: Effect of Thermal radiation parameter on velocity, temperature and concentration

profiles.
Based on the Fig 2 above, the graphs illustrated the profiles for velocity
temperature

()

and concentration

f ' ( ) ,

()

with the variation of thermal radiation

parameter respectively in the presence of chemical reaction =0.0 and =2.0 on
shrinking surface. It is clear that an increase in the thermal radiation R value does not
affect the velocity profiles and the fluid remain constant. On the other hand, an increase in the
thermal radiation R leads to increases in both the temperature and the concentration
profiles. The velocity value initially increase and approach to one as the value as
the distance from the plate increases and satisfying the boundary conditions at infinity
asymptotically. Meanwhile for the temperature profiles, it is observed that the variation of

temperature profile response to the changed in values of thermal radiation parameter R . It

is shown that as thermal radiation parameter R increase, the temperature decrease from
=0 until =2.5 and increase back from =2.5 until . The thermal
boundary layer thickness decrease down to minimum value and approach to zero such
( )=0 as . The generative of chemical reactions did not showed any
difference for the velocity and temperature profiles when =0.0 and =2.0 . As for the
concentration profiles, the concentration increase from =0 until =2.5 and decrease
back from =2.5 until =3.5 and increase again after that until the parameters
approach to zero. The generative of chemical reaction when =2.0 tends to make the
concentration boundary layer thickness decreased and approach to zero faster as the value
tends to whereas the distance from the plate increases and the graph also approach
to infinity asymptotically such ( )=0 as .

Fig 3: Effect of Brownian motion parameter on velocity f ' () , temperature () and

concentration () on shrinking surface.
Fig 3 and Fig 4 show uniform movement in velocity
temperature

()

f ' ( )

and an increase of

profiles as the parameter of Brownian motion and thermophoresis

increase (from 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5) with no effect as the chemical reaction generate. Besides for
concentration ( ) profile in Fig 3, it is isolated by increasing in concentration from
=0

until as the value of

parameters increase. In Fig 4, concentration decrease from =0 until =2.5 and
increase back from =2.5 as the value of parameters increase and approach to infinity
until

=2.5

and decrease back from

=2.5

asymptotically. The chemical reaction can be clearly seen that it has effected the
concentration ( ) profile and same things occur in Fig 4, Fig 5 and Fig 6.

Fig 4: Effect of Thermophoresis parameter on velocity f ' () , temperature () and

concentration () on shrinking surface.

Fig 5: Effect of Magnetic parameter on velocity f ' () , temperature () and

concentration () on shrinking surface.
Fig 5 It is observed that with the increasing value of M, the fluid velocity increase and the
fluid temperature decrease. The chemical reaction also does not affect both velocity and
temperature during the variation of M. as the variation of M continues in concentration
profiles, the concentration is decreasing =0 until =1 and increase back from
=1
until =2 and decrease again while approaching to zero as the value of

parameters increase. A different things happened in Fig 6 variation of Lewis number where
all of the profiles are affected by chemical reaction. The velocity and temperature profiles are
in their uniform state for each when =0.0 and =2.0 . For concentration, it decrease
from =0 until =1 and increase back from =1 until =2 and decrease again
while approaching to zero satisfying the boundary condition as the value of parameters
increase. The boundary layer thickness decrease when =2.0 and tends to made the
concentration approach to zero faster as the value tends to whereas the distance
from the plate increases and the graph also approach to infinity asymptotically.

Fig 6: Effect of Lewis number on velocity f ' () , temperature () and concentration

() on shrinking surface.

Conclusion

The work have been theoretically investigated on how the various physical governing
parameters of thermal radiation R, Brownian motion Nb, thermophoresis Nt, magnetic M and
Lewis number Le on shrinking surface influence the velocity, temperature and concentration
profiles. In comparison with the existence of generative chemical reaction, all of the results
are shown graphically. It was found that all of the concentration profile are affected by
generative chemical reaction. As for the velocity and temperature profiles are not affected by
chemical reaction and the profiles overlap (shows that constant value as the chemical reaction
generate). We also found out the speciality of Lewis number parameter where only this
parameter shows the effect of generative chemical reaction on the velocity, temperature and
concentration profiles. The skin friction, f ' ' (0) , rate of heat transfer, ' (0) and the
'
rate of mass transfer, ( 0 )

also are displayed in table.

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