Appl. Math. Mech. -Engl. Ed.

, 32(8), 1065–1078 (2011)

DOI 10.1007/s10483-011-1481-6
Applied Mathematics
Shanghai
c University and Springer-Verlag
and Mechanics
Berlin Heidelberg 2011 (English Edition)

Chemical reaction effects on unsteady MHD flow past semi-infinite

vertical porous plate with viscous dissipation∗

J. A. RAO1 , S. SHIVAIAH2
(1. Department of Mathematics, Osmania University, Hyderabad 500007, India;
2. Department of Mathematics, Padmasri Dr. B. V. Raju Institute of Technology,
Narsapur, Medak 502313, India)

Abstract The chemical reaction effect on an unsteady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)

flow past a semi-infinite vertical porous plate with viscous dissipation is analyzed. The
governing equations of motion, energy, and species are transformed into ordinary differ-
ential equations (ODEs) using the time dependent similarity parameter. The resultant
ODEs are then solved numerically by a finite element method. The effects of various
parameters on the velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are presented graph-
ically, and the values of the skin-friction, Nusselt number, and Sherwood number for
various values of physical parameters are presented through tables.
Key words magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), chemical reaction, porous medium, viscous
dissipation, finite element method
Chinese Library Classification O357.3, O361.3
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification 76D50, 76S05, 76D10

1 Introduction
Combined heat and mass transfer problems with chemical reactions are of importance in
many processes. Therefore, they have received a considerable amount of attention in recent
years. In the processes such as drying, evaporating at the surface of a water body, transferring
energy in a wet cooling tower, and flowing in a desert cooler, heat and mass transfer occur
simultaneously. Possible applications of this type of flows can be found in many industries. For
example, in the power industry, electrical energy is extracted directly from a moving conducting
fluid.
Many practical diffusive operations involve the molecular diffusion of a species in the presence
of a chemical reaction within or at the boundary. There are two types of reactions. One
is the homogeneous reaction, which occurs uniformly throughout a given phase. The species
generation in a homogeneous reaction is analogous to the internal source of the heat generation.
The other is the heterogeneous reaction, which takes place in a restricted region or within the
boundary of a phase. It can also be treated as a boundary condition similar to the constant heat
flux condition in heat transfer. The study of heat and mass transfer with chemical reactions is of
great practical importance to engineers and scientists because of its almost universal occurrence
in many branches of science and engineering. The flow of a fluid past a wedge is of fundamental

∗ Received Dec. 31, 2010 / Revised Apr. 14, 2011

Corresponding author S. SHIVAIAH, Associate Professor, Ph. D., E-mail: sreddy7@yahoo.co.in
1066 J. A. RAO and S. SHIVAIAH

importance since it constitutes a general and wide class of flows in which the free stream velocity
is proportional to the power of the length coordinate measured from the stagnation point.
All industrial chemical processes are designed to transform cheaper raw materials to high
value products (usually via chemical reactions). A “reactor”, in which such chemical trans-
formations take place, has to carry out several functions like bringing reactants into intimate
contacts, providing an appropriate environment (temperature and concentration fields) at ad-
equate time, and allowing for the removal of products. Fluid dynamics plays a pivotal role in
establishing the relationship between the reactor hardware and the reactor performance. For
a specific chemistry/catalyst, the reactor performance is a complex function of the underlying
transport processes. The first step in any reaction engineering analysis is to formulate a math-
ematical framework to describe the rate (and mechanisms) by which one chemical species is
converted into another in the absence of any transport limitations (chemical kinetics). Once the
intrinsic kinetics is available, the production rate and composition of the products are related,
in principle, to react the volume, the configuration, and the mode of operation by solving the
mass, momentum, and energy balances over the reactor. This is the central task of a reaction
and reactor engineering activity. The analyses of the transport processes and their interactions
with chemical reactions are quite difficult. It is intimately connected to the underlying fluid
dynamics. Such a combined analysis of chemical and physical processes constitutes for the core
of the chemical reaction engineering. Recent advances in understanding the physics of flows
and modeling the computational flow make tremendous contributions in chemical engineering.
We are particularly interested in the cases in which the diffusion and the chemical reaction
occur at the roughly same speed. When the diffusion is much faster than the chemical reaction,
only chemical factors influence the chemical reaction rate; when the diffusion is not much faster
than the reaction, the diffusion and the kinetics interact to produce very different effects. The
study of heat generation or absorption effects in moving fluids is important in many physical
problems, such as fluids undergoing exothermic or endothermic chemical reactions.
Chambre and Young[1] presented a first-order chemical reaction in the neighborhood of a
horizontal plate. Dekha et al.[2] investigated the effect of the first-order homogeneous chemical
reaction on the process of an unsteady flow past a vertical plate with the constant heat and mass
transfer. Muthucumaraswamy[3] presented the heat and mass transfer effects on a continuously
moving isothermal vertical surface with the uniform suction by taking into account the homo-
geneous chemical reaction of the first order. Muthucumaraswamy and Meenakshisundaram[4]
investigated a theoretical study of the chemical reaction effects on a vertical oscillating plate
with variable temperature and mass diffusion.
There is renewed interest in studying magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows and heat transfer
in porous and non-porous media due to the effects of magnetic fields on the boundary layer flow
control and the performance of many systems using electrically conducting fluids. Raptis et al.[5]
analyzed a hydromagnetic free convection flow through a porous medium between two parallel
plates. Gribben[6] presented the boundary layer flow over a semi-infinite plate with an aligned
magnetic field in the presence of a pressure gradient. He obtained the solutions for large and
small magnetic Prandtl numbers using the method of matched asymptotic expansion. Helmy[7]
presented an unsteady two-dimensional (2D) laminar free convection flow of an incompressible
and electrically conducting (Newtonian or polar) fluid through a porous medium bounded by
an infinite vertical plane surface of the constant temperature. Gregantopoulos et al.[8] studied
a 2D unsteady free convection and mass transfer flow of an incompressible viscous dissipative
and electrically conducting fluid past an infinite vertical porous plate. For some industrial
applications such as glass production and furnace design and in space technology applications
such as cosmical flight aerodynamics rockets, propulsion systems, plasma physics, and spacecraft
reentry aerothermodynamics which operate under the higher temperature, radiation effects can
be significant. In view of this, Hossain and Takhar[9] analyzed the effect of radiation on mixed
convection along a vertical plate with the uniform surface temperature. Kim and Fedorov[10]
 Chemical reaction effects on unsteady MHD flow 1067

analyzed the transient mixed radiative convective flow of a micropolar fluid past a moving
semi-infinite vertical porous plate. Muthuraj and Srinivas[11] studied the fully developed MHD
flow of a micropolar and viscous fluid in a vertical porous space using the homotopy analysis
method.
The study of heat generation or absorption effects in moving fluids is important in view
of several physical problems such as fluids undergoing exothermic or endothermic chemical
reactions. Possible heat generation effects may alter the temperature distribution and, con-
sequently, the particle deposition rates in nuclear reactors, electric chips, and semiconductor
wafers. Seddeek[12] studied the effects of chemical reactions, thermophoresis, and variable vis-
cosities on the steady hydromagnetic flow with heat and mass transfer over a flat plate in the
presence of heat generation/absorption. Patil and Kulkarni[13] studied the effects of a chemical
reaction on a free convective flow of a polar fluid through a porous medium in the presence of
internal heat generation. Mohamed[14] studied the double-diffusive convection-radiation inter-
action on an unsteady MHD flow over a vertical moving porous plate with heat generation and
Soret effects. Ramachandra-Prasad and Bhaskar-Reddy[15] studied the radiation effects on an
unsteady MHD convective heat and mass transfer flow past a semi-infinite vertical permeable
moving plate embedded in a porous medium. Satya-Narayana and Venkataramana[16] studied
the Hall current effect on an MHD free-convection flow past a semi-infinite vertical porous plate
with mass transfer. Sudheer-Babu and Satya-Narayana[17] studied the effects of the chemical
reaction and radiation absorption on the free convection flow through a porous medium with
variable suction in the presence of a uniform magnetic field. Recently, Dulal and Babulal[18]
studied the perturbation analysis of the unsteady MHD convective heat and mass transfer in a
boundary layer slip flow past a vertical permeable plate with the thermal radiation and chem-
ical reaction. Kim[19] studied the unsteady MHD convective heat transfer past a semi-infinite
vertical porous moving plate with variable suction. Kesavaiah et al.[20] studied the effects of
the chemical reaction and radiation absorption on an unsteady MHD convective heat and mass
transfer flow past a semi-infinite vertical permeable moving plate embedded in a porous medium
with heat source and suction.
The objective of the present investigation is to study the effects of a chemical reaction on an
unsteady MHD flow past a semi-infinite vertical porous plate by taking the viscous dissipation
into consideration. The equations of the continuity, momentum, energy, and diffusion, which
govern the flow field, are solved by using a finite element method. The behaviors of the velocity,
temperature, concentration, skin-friction, Nusselt number, and Sherwood number are discussed
for variations in the governing parameters.

2 Mathematical analysis

An unsteady 2D free convection flow of a viscous incompressible electrically conducting and

dissipating optically thick fluid past a vertical porous plate is considered. In Fig. 1, the x-axis
is taken along the plate in the upward direction, and the y-axis is taken normal to the plate.
A uniform magnetic field is applied in the direction perpendicular to the plate. The fluid is
assumed to be slightly conductive. Therefore, the magnetic Reynolds number is much less than
unity, and the induced magnetic field is negligible in comparison with the applied magnetic field.
The foreign mass presented in the flow is assumed to be at a low level. Therefore, the Soret and
Dufour effects are negligible. Further, due to the semi-infinite plane surface assumption, the
flow variables are the functions of the normal distance y  and the time t only. Now, under the
usual Boussinesq approximation, the governing boundary layer equations of the problem are
(i) Continuity equation
∂v 
= 0. (1)
∂y 
1068 J. A. RAO and S. SHIVAIAH

Fig. 1 Physical model and coordinate system

(ii) Momentum equation

∂u  ∂u

1 ∂p ∂ 2 u
+ v = − + v + gβ(T  − T∞

)
∂t ∂y  ρ ∂x ∂y 2
νu σB02 u
+ gβ ∗ (C  − C∞ 
)−  − . (2)
K ρ
(iii) Energy equation
∂T   ∂T

1  ∂2T   
 ν  ∂u 2
+ v = k − Q 0 (T − T ∞ ) + . (3)
∂t ∂y  ρcp ∂y 2 cp ∂y 
(iv) Diffusion equation
∂C   ∂C

∂2C 
+ v = D − Kr C  . (4)
∂t ∂y  ∂y 2
In the above equations, u and v  are the velocity components in the x - and y  -directions,
respectively. t is the time. ρ is the fluid density. p is the pressure. ν is the kinematic viscosity.
σ is the fluid electrical conductivity. cs is the concentration susceptibility. cp is the specific
heat at the constant pressure. g is the acceleration due to gravity. β and β ∗ are the thermal
and concentration expansion coefficients, respectively. B0 is the applied magnetic field. Q0 is
the heat source. K  is the permeability of the porous medium. T  is the temperature of the
fluid near the plate. C  is the species concentration in the fluid. k is the thermal conductivity.
μ is the viscosity of the fluid. D is the mass diffusivity. Kr is the chemical reaction parameter.
The boundary conditions for the velocity, temperature, and concentration fields are
⎧
⎪ t  0 : u = 0, T  = T∞ 
for all y  ,
⎪
⎪
⎨    
t > 0 : u = up , T  = T∞ 
+ ε(Tw − T∞ 
)en t , C  = C∞

+ ε(Cw − C∞
)en t , y  = 0, (5)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩  
u  = U∞
= U0 + ε(1 + εen t ), T  → T∞ 
, C  → C∞
, y  → ∞,

where up is the plate velocity. Tw and Cw are the wall dimensional temperature and concentra-
 
tion, respectively. T∞ and C∞ are the free stream dimensional temperature and concentration,
respectively. U∞ is the free stream velocity. U0 and n are the constants.


From Eq. (1), it is clear that the suction velocity normal to the plate is either a constant or
a function of time. Hence, it is assumed to be in the following form:
 
v  = −V0 (1 + εAen t ), (6)
 Chemical reaction effects on unsteady MHD flow 1069

where A is a real positive constant. ε and εA are small values less than unity. V0 is the scale of
the suction velocity which is a nonzero positive constant. Outside the boundary layer, Eq. (2)
gives
1 ∂p dU∞
νU∞
σB0 U∞
− 
= 
+ 
+ . (7)
ρ ∂x dt K ρ
To write the governing equations and the boundary conditions in the dimensionless form,
the following non-dimensional quantities are introduced:
⎧
⎪ u v V0 y  up
⎪
⎪ u = , v = , y = , U = ,
⎪
⎪ U0 V0 v
p
U0
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ U n ν t V02 T  − T∞
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ U∞ = ∞ , n = 2 , t = , θ=  ,
⎪
⎪ U0 V0 v Tw − T∞ 
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ C  − C∞
K  V02 vρCp ν
⎪
⎪C =  , K , Pr = = ,
⎪
⎨ Cw − C∞ 
=
ν 2 k α
(8)
⎪
⎪ v σ B02 ν Q0 ν
⎪
⎪
⎪ Sc = , M =
⎪ 2 , Q= ,
⎪
⎪ D ρ V 0 ρ cp V02
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ U02 vβg(Tw − T∞ 
)
⎪
⎪ Ec = , Gr = ,
⎪
⎪ c  − T ) U V 2
⎪
⎪
(T
p w ∞ 0 0
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ vβ ∗ g(Cw − C∞ 
) K ν
⎩ Gm = 2 , Kr = r2 .
U0 V0 V0

In view of Eqs. (5)–(8), Eqs. (2)–(4) can be reduced to the following dimensionless form:

∂u ∂u dU∞ ∂2u
− (1 + εAent ) = + 2 + Grθ + GmC + N (U∞ − u), (9)
∂t ∂y dt ∂y
 2
∂θ ∂θ 1 ∂2θ ∂u
− (1 + εAent ) = 2
− Qθ + Ec , (10)
∂t ∂y P r ∂y ∂y

∂C ∂C 1 ∂2C
− (1 + εAent ) = − Kr C, (11)
∂t ∂y Sc ∂y 2

where Gr, Gm, M , K, P r, Q, Ec, Sc, and Kr are the thermal Grashof number, the solutal
Grashof number, the magnetic field parameter, the permeability parameter, the Prandtl num-
ber, the heat source parameter, the Eckert number, the Schmidt number, and the chemical
reaction parameter, respectively, and

1
N =M+ .
K

The corresponding boundary conditions are

⎧
⎪
⎪ t  0 : θ = 0, C = 0 for all y  ,
⎪
⎨
t > 0 : u = Up , θ = 1 + εent , y = 0, (12)
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩
u → U∞ = 1 + εent , θ → 0, C → 0, y → ∞.
1070 J. A. RAO and S. SHIVAIAH

3 Solution to problem

Applying the Galerkin finite element method for Eqs. (9)–(11) over the element (e) (yj 
y  yk ) yields

yk  ∂ 2 u(e) 
T ∂u(e) ∂u(e)
N (e) +P − − N u(e) + R1 dy = 0, (13)
yj ∂y 2 ∂y ∂t

yk  ∂ 2 θ(e) 
T ∂θ(e) ∂θ(e)
N (e) + PPr − Pr − QP rθ(e) + R2 dy = 0, (14)
yj ∂y 2 ∂y ∂t

yk  ∂ 2 C (e) 
T ∂C (e) ∂C (e)
N (e) + P Sc − Sc − ScKr C (e) dy = 0, (15)
yj ∂y 2 ∂y ∂t

where
⎧
⎪
⎪ P = 1 + Aεent ,
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ 1
⎪
⎨N = M + K,
⎪

⎪
⎪ R1 = nεent + Grθ + GmC + N U∞ ,
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪  ∂u 2
⎪
⎪
⎩ R2 = P rEc .
∂y

Let the linear piecewise approximation solution be

⎧ (e)
⎪
⎪ u = Nj (y)uj (t) + Nk (y)uk (t) = Nj uj + Nk uk ,
⎪
⎨
θ(e) = Nj (y)θj (t) + Nk (y)θk (t) = Nj θj + Nk θk ,
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩
C (e) = Nj (y)Cj (t) + Nk (y)Ck (t) = Nj Cj + Nk Ck ,

where
⎧ yk − y
⎪
⎪ Nj = ,
⎪
⎪ y k − yj
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎨ y − yj
Nk = ,
⎪
⎪ y k − yj
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪  
⎪
⎪ T N j
⎩N (e) T
= [Nj Nk ] = .
Nk

The differential equations (13)–(15) subjected to the boundary conditions (12) are highly
nonlinear and coupled, and cannot be solved analytically. Therefore, following Reddy[21] and
Bathe[22] , we use the finite element method to obtain an accurate and efficient solution to the
boundary value problem under consideration. The fundamental steps comprising the method
are as follows:
Step 1 Discretize the domain into elements.
The whole domain is divided into a finite number of sub-domains. Each sub-domain is
termed by a finite element. The collection of the elements is designated to the finite element
mesh.
 Chemical reaction effects on unsteady MHD flow 1071

Step 2 Derive the element equations.

The derivation of the finite element equations, i.e., the algebraic equations among the un-
known parameters of the finite element approximation, involves constructing the variational
formulation of the differential equation, assuming the form of the approximate solution over a
typical finite element, and deriving the finite element equations by substituting the approximate
solution into the variational formulation.
Step 3 Assemble the element equations.
The algebraic equations obtained are assembled by imposing the inter-element continuity
conditions. This yields a large number of algebraic equations, which can constitute the global
finite element model governing the whole flow domain.
Step 4 Impose the boundary conditions.
The physical boundary conditions defined in Eq. (12) are imposed on the assembled equa-
tions.
Step 5 Solve the assembled equations.
The final matrix equation can be solved by a direct or indirect (iterative) method. For
computational purposes, the coordinate y varies from 0 to ymax = 10, where ymax represents
infinity, i.e., external to the momentum, energy, and concentration boundary layers. The whole
domain is divided into 100 line elements with the equal width 0.05, and each element has
three nodes. Therefore, after assembly of all the element equations, we obtain a matrix of the
order 201 × 201. This obtained system of equations after assembly of the element equations
is nonlinear. Therefore, an iterative scheme is used to solve it. The system is linearized
by incorporating the known functions. After applying the given boundary conditions only, a
system of 195 equations remains for the solution which has been solved by using the Gauss
elimination method. This process is repeated until the desired accuracy of 5 × 10−4 is obtained.
The skin-friction, Nusselt number, and Sherwood number are important physical parameters
for this type of boundary layer flows.
The skin-friction at the plate, in the non-dimensional form, is given by
τw  ∂u 
Cf = = . (16)
ρU0 V0 ∂y y=0
The rate of the heat transfer coefficient, in the non-dimensional form in terms of the Nusselt
number, is given by
∂T  
 ∂θ 
∂y  y  =0 −1
N u = −x  
⇒ N uRe x = − . (17)
Tw − T∞ ∂y y=0
The rate of the mass transfer coefficient, in the non-dimensional form in terms of the Sherwood
number, is given by
∂C  
 ∂C 
∂y  y  =0
Sh = −x  
⇒ ShRe−1
x =− , (18)
Cw − C∞ ∂y y=0
V0 x
where Rex = ν is the local Reynolds number.

4 Results and discussion

The formulation of the problem that accounts for the effects of the chemical reaction on
an unsteady MHD flow past a semi-infinite vertical porous plate with viscous dissipation is
performed in the preceding sections. The governing equations of the flow field are solved
analytically by using a finite element method. The expressions for the velocity, temperature,
concentration, skin-friction, Nusselt number, and Sherwood number are obtained. To get a
1072 J. A. RAO and S. SHIVAIAH

physical insight of the problem, the above physical quantities are computed numerically for
different values of the governing parameters, viz., the thermal Grashof number Gr, the solutal
Grashof number Gm, the magnetic parameter M , the permeability parameter K, the Prandtl
number P r, the heat source parameter Q, the Eckert number Ec, the Schmidt number Sc, the
chemical reaction parameter Kr , and the plate velocity Up . To ascertain the accuracy of the
numerical results, the present study is compared with the previous study. The velocity and
concentration profiles are compared with the available solutions of Kesavaiah et al.[20] in Figs. 2
and 3. It is observed that the present results are in good agreement with those of Kesavaiah
et al.[20] .

Fig. 2 Velocity profiles for different Kr Fig. 3 Concentration profiles for different Kr

For the case of different thermal Grashof numbers Gr, the velocity profiles in the boundary
layer are shown in Fig. 4. As expected, it is observed that an increase in Gr leads to the decrease
in the velocity due to the enhancement in the buoyancy force. Here, the positive values of Gr
correspond to the cooling surface. In addition, the curves show that the peak values of the
velocity decrease rapidly near the wall of the porous plate as Gr increases, and then decay to
the free stream velocity.
Figure 5 presents the typical velocity profiles in the boundary layer for various solutal
Grashof numbers Gm with the same other parameters as before. It is seen that the velocity
distribution attains a distinctive maximum value in the vicinity of the plate surface, and then
decreases properly to approach the free stream value. As expected, the fluid velocity increases,
and the peak value is much distinctive due to the increase in the concentration buoyancy effects
represented by Gm. This is evident in the increase in u as Gm increases.

Fig. 4 Effect of Gr on velocity Fig. 5 Effect of Gm on velocity

 Chemical reaction effects on unsteady MHD flow 1073

The effect of the magnetic field on the velocity profiles in the boundary layer is depicted
in Fig. 6. From this figure, it is seen that the velocity starts from the minimum value at the
surface, increases till it attains the peak value, and then starts decreasing until it reaches to
the minimum value at the end of the boundary layer for all M . It is interesting to note that
the effect of the magnetic field is to decrease the values of the velocity profiles throughout the
boundary layer. The effect of the magnetic field is more prominent at the point of the peak
value, i.e., the peak value drastically decreases with the increase in the magnetic field because
the magnetic field in an electrically conducting fluid can introduce the Lorentz force, which acts
against the flow if the magnetic field is applied in the normal direction. This type of resisting
force slows down the fluid velocity as shown in Fig. 6.
Figure 7 shows the velocity profiles for different permeability parameters K. It is clearly
seen that, as K increases, the peak values of the velocity tend to increase.

Fig. 6 Effect of M on velocity Fig. 7 Effect of K on velocity

Figures 8(a) and 8(b) illustrate the velocity and temperature profiles for different Prandtl
numbers P r. The results show that the increasing Prandtl number results in an increase in the
velocity, and an increase in the Prandtl number results in a decrease in the thermal boundary
layer and in general lower average temperature within the boundary layer. The reason is that
smaller P r is equivalent to the increase in the thermal conductivity of the fluid, and heat is
able to diffuse away from the heated surface more rapidly for higher values of P r. Therefore,
in the case of smaller Prandtl numbers, the thermal boundary layer is thicker, and the rate of
heat transfer is reduced.

Fig. 8 Velocity and temperature profiles for different P r

1074 J. A. RAO and S. SHIVAIAH

Figures 9(a) and 9(b) show the velocity and temperature profiles for different heat source
parameters Q. As shown in Fig. 9(a), the increasing heat source parameter Q decreases the
boundary layer. It is due to the fact that when heat is absorbed, the buoyancy force decreases
and retards the flow rate, which, thereby, gives rise to the decrease in the velocity profiles. From
Fig. 9(b), we observe that the temperature θ(y) decreases with the increase in the heat source
parameter Q because when heat is absorbed, the buoyancy force decreases the temperature
profiles.

Fig. 9 Velocity and temperature profiles for different Q

The effects of the viscous dissipation parameter, i.e., the Eckert number Ec, on the velocity
and temperature are shown in Figs. 10(a) and 10(b), respectively. It is seen that the increasing
viscous dissipative heat causes the increases in the temperature and velocity.

Fig. 10 Velocity and temperature profiles for different Ec

Figures 11(a) and 11(b) display the effects of the Schmidt number Sc on the velocity and
concentration profiles, respectively. When the Schmidt number increases, the concentration
decreases. This causes the decrease in the concentration buoyancy effects and yields a reduction
in the fluid velocity. The figures also show that the reductions and the velocity and concentration
profiles are accompanied by the simultaneous reductions in the velocity and concentration
boundary layers.
Figures 12(a) and 12(b) display the effects of the chemical reaction parameter Kr on the
velocity and concentration profiles, respectively. As expected, the presence of the chemical
reaction significantly affects the concentration profiles as well as the velocity profiles. It should
 Chemical reaction effects on unsteady MHD flow 1075

be mentioned that the studied case is for a destructive chemical reaction Kr . In fact, as Kr
increases, the considerable reduction in the velocity profiles is predicted, and the presence of the
peak indicates that the maximum value of the velocity occurs in the body of the fluid close to the
surface but not at the surface. Also, with an increase in the chemical reaction parameter, the
concentration decreases. It is evident that the increase in the chemical reaction Kr significantly
alters the concentration boundary layer thickness but does not alter the momentum boundary
layers.

Fig. 11 Velocity and temperature profiles for different Sc

Fig. 12 Velocity and temperature profiles for different Kr

Figure 13 illustrates the variation of the velocity distribution across the boundary layer
for several values of the plate moving with the velocity Up in the direction of the fluid flow.
Although we have different initial plate moving velocities, the velocity decreases to the constant
values for the given material parameters.
The effects of various governing parameters on the skin-friction coefficient Cf , Nusselt num-
ber N u, and Sherwood number Sh are shown in Tables 1, 2, and 3. From Table 1, it is noticed
that as Gr or Gm increases, the skin-friction coefficient increases, while as M or K increases,
the skin-friction coefficient decreases. From Table 2, it is observed that an increase in the
radiation parameter or the Prandtl number reduces the skin-friction and increases the Nus-
selt number. Also, it is found that as the Eckert number increases, the skin-friction increases
and the Nusselt number decreases. From Table 3, it is found that as Sc or Kr increases, the
skin-friction coefficient decreases and the Sherwood number increases.
1076 J. A. RAO and S. SHIVAIAH

Fig. 13 Effect of Up on velocity

Table 1 Effects of Gr, Gm, M , and K on Cf with Q = 5.0, P r = 0.71, Ec = 0.001, and Sc = 0.50
Gr Gm M K Cf
2.0 2.0 1.0 0.5 2.144 1
4.0 2.0 1.0 0.5 3.575 9
2.0 4.0 1.0 0.5 3.168 5
2.0 2.0 2.0 0.5 1.564 6
2.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 2.005 2

Table 2 Effect of Q, P r, and Ec on Cf and N uRe−1

x with Gr = 2.0, Gm = 2.0, M = 2.0, K = 1.0,
and Sc = 0.65
Q Pr Ec Cf N uRe−1
x

5.0 0.71 0.001 4.244 1 0.245 6

10.0 0.71 0.001 4.161 0 0.315 4
5.0 7.00 0.001 4.343 4 1.634 1
5.0 0.71 0.100 4.267 0 1.688 0

Table 3 Effect of Sc and Kr on Cf and ShRe−1 x with Gr = 2.0, Gm = 2.0, M = 2.0, K = 1.0,
Q = 5.0, P r = 0.71, and Ec = 0.001
Sc Kr Cf ShRe−1
x

0.22 0.5 3.463 8 0.336 6

0.60 0.5 3.144 1 0.680 0
0.22 1.0 3.308 9 0.496 0

5 Conclusions

In this paper, the governing equations for the effects of a chemical reaction on an unsteady
MHD flow past a semi-infinite vertical porous plate are presented by taking viscous dissipation.
Employing the highly efficient finite element method, the leading equations are solved numeri-
cally. The results illustrate the flow characteristics for the velocity, temperature, concentration,
skin-friction, Nusselt number, and Sherwood number. It is found that when the thermal and
solutal Grashof numbers increase, the concentration buoyancy effects enhance, and thus the
fluid velocity increases. The velocity as well as the concentration decreases with an increase in
 Chemical reaction effects on unsteady MHD flow 1077

the chemical reaction parameter. Also, when the Schmidt number increases, the concentration
level decreases the fluid velocity. An increase in the Prandtl number reduces the skin-friction
and increases the Nusselt number. When the Eckert number increases, the skin-friction in-
creases and the Nusselt number decreases. When the Schmidt number or the chemical reaction
parameter increases, the skin-friction coefficient decreases and the Sherwood number increases.

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