Latin American Applied Research
THERMOPHORESIS AND CHEMICAL REACTION EFFECTS ON
MHD MIXED CONVECTIVE HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER PAST A
POROUS WEDGE IN THE PRESENCE OF SUCTION
I. MUHAIMIN, R. KANDASAMY and A. B. KAMIS
Centre for Science Studies, University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia,
86400, Parit Raja, Batu Pahat Johor, Malaysia,
Email: future990@gmail.com
Abstract−− The effects of thermophoresis and
MHD mixed convection flow with heat and mass
transfer over a porous wedge are presented here,
taking into account the homogeneous chemical reac-
tion of first order. The governing fundamental equa-
tions are approximated by a system of nonlinear or-
dinary differential equations and are solved numeri-
cally by using the Runge Kutta Gill and shooting
methods. The steady-state velocity, temperature and
concentration profiles are shown graphically. It is
observed that due to the presence of first-order
chemical reaction, the concentration decreases with
increasing values of the chemical reaction parame-
ter. The results also showed that the particle deposi-
tion rates were strongly influenced by thermophore-
sis and the strength of the magnetic field in the pres-
ence of buoyancy force, particularly for opposing
flow and hot surfaces. Numerical results for the skin-
friction coefficient, wall heat and mass transfer are
obtained and reported graphically for various para-
metric conditions to show interesting aspects of the
solution.
Keywords−− Chemical reaction, thermophoresis
particle deposition and magnetic effect.
I. INTRODUCTION
Thermophoresis is a phenomenon, which causes small
particles to be driven away from a hot surface and to-
wards a cold one. It has also been shown that thermo-
phoresis is the dominant mass transfer mechanism in the
modified chemical vapor deposition process used in the
fabrication of optical fiber perform and is also important
in view of its relevance to postulated accidents by ra-
dioactive particle deposition in nuclear reactors. In the
application of pigments, or chemical coating of metals,
or removal of particles from a gas or liquid stream by
filtration, there can be distinct advantages in exploiting
deposition mechanisms to improve efficiency.
Goldsmith and May (1966) first studied the thermo-
phoretic transport involved in a simple one-dimensional
flow for the measurement of the thermophoretic veloc-
ity. Thermophoresis in laminar flow over a horizontal
flat plate has been studied theoretically by Goren
(1977). Thermophoresis in natural convection with vari-
able properties for a laminar flow over a cold vertical
flat plate has been studied by Jayaraj et al. (1999).
Selim et al. (2001) studied the effect of surface mass
flux on mixed convective flow past a heated vertical flat
153
40:153-159 (2010)
permeable plate with thermophoresis. The first analysis
of thermophoretic deposition in geometry of engineer-
ing interest appears to be that of Hales et al. (1972).
They have solved the laminar boundary layer equations
for simultaneous aerosol and steam transport to an iso-
thermal vertical surface situated adjacent to a large body
of an otherwise quiescent air-steam-aerosol mixture.
Recently, Chamkha and Pop (2004) studied the effect of
thermophoresis particle deposition in free convection
boundary layer from a vertical flat plate embedded in a
porous medium.
Transport processes in porous media play a signifi-
cant roles in various applications such as in geothermal
engineering, thermal insulation, energy conservation,
petroleum industries solid matrix heat exchangers,
chemical catalytic reactors, underground disposal of
nuclear waste materials and many others. In many
transport processes in nature and in industrial applica-
tions in which heat and mass transfer with thermophore-
sis particle deposition is a consequence of buoyancy
effects caused by diffusion of heat and chemical spe-
cies. The study of such processes is useful for improv-
ing a number of chemical technologies, such as polymer
production and food processing.
A large amount of research work has been reported
in this field. In particular, the study of heat and mass
transfer with chemical reaction is of considerable im-
portance in chemical and hydrometallurgical industries.
Chemical reaction effects on heat and mass transfer
laminar boundary layer flow have been discussed by
many authors (Hakiem et al., 1999; Kuo, 2005; Cheng
and Lin, 2002; Apelblat, 1982) in various situations.
On the other hand, when a conductive fluid moves
through a magnetic field, an ionized gas is electrically
conductive; the fluid may be influenced by the magnetic
field. Magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) mixed convection
heat transfer flow in porous and non-porous media is of
considerable interest in the technical field due to its fre-
quent occurrence in industrial technology and geother-
mal application, high temperature plasmas applicable to
nuclear fusion energy conversion, liquid metal fluids,
and (MHD) power generation systems.
At present, to the author’s best knowledge, two stud-
ies dealing with the thermophoresis effect in porous
media were published: recently Chamkha and Pop
(2004) looked to the effect of thermophoresis particle
deposition in free convection boundary layer from a
vertical flat plate embedded in a porous medium; the
 I. MUHAIMIN, R. KANDASAMY, A. B. KAMIS

steady free convection over an isothermal vertical circu- particle diffusivity is assumed to be constant, and the
lar cylinder embedded in a fluid-saturated porous me- concentration of particles is sufficiently dilute to assume
dium in the presence of the thermophoresis particle that particle coagulation in the boundary layer is negli-
deposition effect was analyzed by Chamka et al. (2004). gible,(v) the magnetic Reynolds number is assumed to
On the other hand, the impetuous research on convec- be small so that the induced magnetic field is negligible
tive flows in porous media is surveyed in the recent in comparison to the magnetic field and the chemical
books by Nield and Bejan (1999) and Ingham and Pop reaction are taking place in the flow. Under the above
(1998, 2002). In these types of problems, the well assumptions, the governing equations (see Selim et al.,
known Falkner–Skan transformation is used to reduce 2001) for this problem can be written as
boundary-layer equations into ordinary differential ∂u ∂v (1)
equations for similar flows (Falkner and Skan, 1931). It + =0
∂x ∂y
can also be used for non-similar flows for convenience
dU σB0
2
in numerical work because it reduces, even if it does not ∂u ∂u 1 ∂ ∂u
u +v = (μ ) + U − (u − U )
eliminate, depends on the x-coordinate. Laminar bound- ∂x ∂y ρ ∂y ∂y dx ρ (2)
ary layer flow over a wedge with suction/injection has ν Ω
been discussed by many authors (Cebeci and Bradshaw, − (u − U ) + [ gβ (T − T∞ ) + gβ * (C − C ∞ )] sin
K 2
1984; Schlichting, 1979; Yih, 1998; Watanabe, 1990;
Kafoussias and Nanousis, 1997). ∂T ∂T ∂ 2T (3)
u +v = αm 2
Effects of heat and mass transfer on nonlinear mixed ∂x ∂y ∂y
convection flow in the presence of suction / injection ∂C ∂C ∂ 2 C ∂ (VT C )
have been studied by many authors in different situa- u +v =D 2 − − k1C . (3)
∂x ∂y ∂y ∂y
tions. But so far no attempt has been made to analyze
the effects of thermophoresis particle deposition with Together with the Boussinesq approximation
chemical reaction on nonlinear MHD mixed convective ρ = ρ ∞ [1 − β (T − T∞ ) − β * (C − C ∞ ) ] (5)
heat and mass transfer past a porous wedge in the pres- where the thermophoresis deposition velocity in the y-
ence of suction or injection and hence we have consid- direction is given by
ered the problem of this kind. The order of chemical ν ∂T
reaction in this work is taken as first-order reaction. It is VT = −k (6)
T ∂y
hoped that the results obtained will not only provide
useful information for applications, but also serve as a where u, v are the velocity components in the x and y
complement to the previous studies. directions respectively, ν is the kinematic viscosity, g is
the acceleration due to gravity, σ is the electrical con-
II. MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS ductivity, ρ is the density of the fluid, β is the coefficient
Let us consider a steady, laminar, hydro magnetic cou- of thermal expansion, β* is the coefficient of volumetric
pled heat and mass transfer by mixed convection flow in expansion, Bo is the magnetic induction, αm is the ther-
front of a stagnation point on a wedge plate embedded mal diffusivity of the fluid, μ is the dynamic viscosity,
in porous medium. The fluid is assumed to be Newto- D is the effective diffusion coefficient, cp is the specific
nian and electrically conducting with constant wall tem- heat at constant pressure, k 1 is the rate of chemical reac-
perature Tw and concentration Cw which is embedded in tion, K is the permeability of the porous medium, Ω is
a fluid-saturated porous medium of ambient temperature the angle of inclination of wedge, k is the thermopho-
T∞ and concentration C∞, where Tw>T∞ and Cw>C∞, re- retic coefficient. The second term on the right-hand side
spectively. The effect of thermophoresis is being taken of Eq. (3) represents viscous dissipation effect. We re-
into to help in the understanding of the mass deposition mark that only the velocity component given by (5) and
variation on the surface. The flow configuration and (6) are to be considered within the boundary-layer
coordinate system are as shown in Fig. 1. A uniform framework. Τhe boundary conditions are,
transverse magnetic field of strength Bo is applied paral-
lel to the y-axis. Fluid suction is imposed at the wedge g↓
surface, see Fig. 1. We further assume that (i) the mass
flux of particles is sufficiently small so that the main
stream velocity and temperature fields are not affected
by the thermo physical processes experienced by the
relatively small number of particles, (ii) due to the
boundary layer behavior the temperature gradient in the
y-direction is much larger than that in the x-direction
and hence only the thermophoretic velocity component
which is normal to the surface is of considerable impor-
tance, (iii) the fluid has constant kinematic viscosity and
thermal diffusivity, and that the Boussinesq approxima-
tion may be adopted for steady laminar flow,(iv) the Fig. 1: Flow Analysis

154
Latin American Applied Research 40:153-159 (2010)

u = 0, v = −v0 , T = Tw , C = C w at y = 0 (7) ∂3 f 1 − m ∂f ∂ 2 f
+(f + ξ )
u = U ( x), T = T∞ , C = C ∞ at y → ∞ (8) ∂η 3 1 + m ∂ξ ∂η 2

Introducing the stream function [20] ψ in the usual way, 1 − m ∂ 2 f ∂f 2 ∂f

− ξ − M 2ξ 2 ( − 1)
1 + m ∂ξ ∂η ∂η 1 + m ∂η (16)
in order to identically satisfy the continuity equation,
and using the dimensionless quantities 2m ∂f 2 Ω
− (( ) 2 − 1 ) + γ 1 (θ + Nφ ) sin
m + 1 ∂η 1+ m 2
(1 + m)U 2Uν x
η(x, y)= y , ψ(x, y) = f , 2 2 ∂f
2ν x 1+ m − ξ λ Pr( −1 ) = 0
m +1 ∂η
T − T∞ C − C∞
θ = , φ= (9) ∂ 2θ 1 − m ∂f ∂θ 2 Pr ∂f
Tw − T∞ C w − C∞ + Pr( f + ξ ) − θ
∂η 2 1 + m ∂ξ ∂η 1 + m ∂η
Under this consideration, the potential flow velocity can (17)
1 − m ∂θ ∂f
2m − Pr ξ =0
be written as U(x) = A xm, β1 = , where A is a 1 + m ∂ξ ∂η
1+ m
∂ 2φ ∂θ ∂φ 2 Sc 2
constant and β 1 is the Hartree pressure gradient pa- 2
+ Sc ( f − τ ) −
∂η ∂η 1 + m
ξ γφ
∂η
Ω 1 + m ∂φ ∂f ∂f ∂φ
rameter that corresponds to β1 = for a total angle Ω + Sc ( ξ − ξ ) (18)
π 1 − m ∂η ∂ξ ∂η ∂ξ
of the wedge. The continuity Eq. (1) is satisfied by the
2 Sc ∂f ∂ 2θ
stream function ψ(x, y) defined by − φ − Scτ φ =0
1 + m ∂η ∂η 2
∂ψ ∂ψ
u= and v = − (10) with boundary conditions
∂y ∂x
∂f (1 + m) f 1 − m ∂f
Now the Eqs. (2) to (4) becomes η = 0: = 0, + ξ = − S , θ = 1, φ = 1
∂η 2 2 ∂ξ
∂3 f ∂2 f 2m ∂f
=−f − (1 − ( ) 2 ) ∂f
∂η 3
∂η 2 1+ m ∂η η → ∞: = 1, θ = 0, φ = 0 (19)
∂η
2 Ω 2 x ∂f ∂ 2 f where the Grashof number Grx , the Eckert number Ec,
− γ 1 (θ + Nφ ) sin + (
1+ m 2 1 + m ∂η ∂x∂η
(11) the Reynolds number Rex, the Prandtl number Pr, the
∂f ∂ 2 f 2 x σB0 2 ∂f Schmidt number Sc, magnetic parameter M2, the suction
− )+ ( −1 )
∂x ∂η 2 m + 1 ρU ∂η parameter S, the chemical reaction parameter γ, the po-
2 ∂f rous medium parameter λ, the thermophoretic parameter
+ λ Pr( −1 )
m +1 ∂η τ, the local buoyancy parameter γ1 and the sustentation
∂ 2θ ∂θ 2 Pr ∂f parameter N are defined as
= − Pr + θ
∂η 2 ∂η 1 + m ∂η gβ x 3 (Tw − T∞ ) Ux ν ν
Grx = , Re x = , Pr = , Sc = ,
2 x ∂f ∂θ ∂f ∂θ ν2 ν αm D
+ Pr ( − ) (12)
1 + m ∂η ∂x ∂x ∂η σB0 2 (1 + m) x ν k1 αm
M2 = , S = v0 ,γ = ,λ = ,
ρ Ak 2 2ν U U2 KU
∂ 2φ ∂θ ∂φ 2 Sc x k (Tw − T∞ ) Grx β * (C w − C∞ )
= − Sc ( f − τ ) + γφ τ =− , γ1 = and N = (20)
∂η 2 ∂η ∂η 1 + m β (Tw − T∞ )
Tr Re x 2
2 Sc ∂f 2 xSc ∂f ∂φ ∂f ∂φ ∂ 2θ where Tr is some reference temperature and k is the
+ φ + ( − ) + Scτ φ
1 + m ∂η 1 + m ∂η ∂x ∂x ∂η ∂η 2 thermophoretic coefficient which is defined as (see
(13)
Selim et al., 2001). S is the suction parameter if S > 0
The boundary conditions can be written as (1− m )
∂f f x dU ∂f and injection if S < 0 and ξ = k x 2 (Kafoussias and
η = 0: =0 (1 + )+ x
∂η 2 U dx ∂x Nanousis, 1997) is the dimensionless distance along the
wedge ( ξ > 0 ).
= −ϖ0 (1 + m) x , θ = 1, φ = 1 (14)
2νU The Eqs. (16) to (18) are changed to
2m 2 Ω
(1 − f ′ 2 ) +
η → ∞: ∂f =1, θ = 0, φ = 0
f ′′′ + f f ′′ + γ 1 (θ + Nφ ) sin
(15) 1+ m 1+ m 2
∂η (21)
2 2 1− m ∂f ∂f ′
− ( M + Pr λ )( f ′ − 1) = − ξ ( f ′′ − f′ )
where v0 is the velocity of suction if v0<0 and injection 1+ m 1+ m ∂ξ ∂ξ
if v0>0. 2 Pr 1− m ∂f ∂θ
θ ′′ + Pr f θ ′ − θ f ′ = − Pr ξ (θ ′ − f′ ) (22)
The Eqs. (11) to (13) and boundary conditions (14) 1+ m 1+ m ∂ξ ∂ξ
and (15) can be written as 2Sc 2 Sc
φ ′′ + Sc ( f − τθ ′) φ ′ − f ′φ − Scτθ ′′φ − γφ
1+ m 1+ m
(23)
1− m ∂f ∂φ
= − Sc ξ (φ ′ − f′ )
1+ m ∂ξ ∂ξ
with boundary conditions

155
 I. MUHAIMIN, R. KANDASAMY, A. B. KAMIS
η = 0: f (0) = − 2 S , f ′(0) = 0, θ (0) = 1, φ (0) = 1
1+ m
η → ∞: f ′(∞) = 1,θ (∞) = 0, φ (∞) = 0 . (24)
The major physical quantities of interest are the lo-
cal skin friction coefficient; the local Nusselt number
and the local Sherwood number are defined, respec-
tively, by:
f ′′(ξ ,0) θ ′(ξ ,0)
Cf =
1
; Nu = −
1
and S h = −
Re x 2 Re x 2
The mass diffusion Eq. (23) can be adjusted to meet
these circumstances if one takes γ > 0 for destructive
reaction, γ = 0 for no reaction and γ < 0 for generative
reaction.
III. NUMERICAL SOLUTION
The MHD boundary layer over the wedge, subjected to
a velocity of suction or injection, is described by the
system of partial differential Eqs. (16) - (18), and its
boundary conditions (19). In this system of equations f
(ξ,η) is the dimensionless stream function; θ (ξ,η) be
the dimensionless temperature; φ (ξ,η) be the dimen-
sionless concentration; Pr the Prandtl number; Rex,
Reynolds number, etc., which are defined in (20). It is
obvious that the no similarity aspects of the problem are
embodied in the terms containing partial derivatives
with respect to ξ. Thus, with ξ derivative terms retained
in the system of Eqs. (21) - (24), it is necessary to em-
ploy a numerical scheme (Gill, 1951; and Oran and Bo-
ris, 2000) suitable for partial differential equations for
the solution. In addition, owing to the coupling between
adjacent streamwise locations through the ξ derivatives,
a locally autonomous solution, at any given streamwise
location, cannot be obtained.
In such a case, an implicit marching numerical solu-
tion scheme is usually applied preceding the solution in
the ξ−direction, i.e., calculating unknown profiles at ξι+1
when the same profiles at ξι are known. The process
starts at ξ = 0 and the solution proceeds from ξι to ξι+1
but such a procedure is time consuming.
However, when the terms involving ∂f , ∂θ and
∂ξ ∂ξ
∂φ and their η derivatives are deleted, the resulting
∂ξ
system of equations resembles, in effect, a system of
ordinary differential equations, for the functions f, θ and
φ, with ξ as a parameter and the computational task is
simplified. Furthermore a locally autonomous solution,
for any given ξ, can be obtained because the streamwise
coupling is severed.
So, in this work, a modified and improved numerical
solution scheme, for local nonsimilarity boundary layer
analysis, is used. The scheme is similar to that of Min-
kowycz et al. (1988) but it deals with the differential
equations in lieu of integral equations. In each level of
truncation, the governing coupled and nonlinear system
of differential equations is solved by applying the com-
mon finite difference method, with central differencing,
a tridiagonal matrix manipulation, and an iterative pro-
cedure. The whole numerical scheme can be pro-
grammed and applied easily and has distinct advantages
compared to that in Minkowycz et al. (1988) with re-
spect to stability, accuracy, and convergence speed. The
details of this scheme are described in Kafoussias and
Karabis (1996).
To examine the behavior of the MHD boundary
φ ′(ξ ,0)
1
(25) layer over the wedge, numerical calculations were car-
Re x 2 ried out for different values of the dimensionless pa-
rameters, entering the problem under consideration for
Pr = 0.71, which corresponds to air. The numerical re-
sults are shown in Figs. 2-8 for the velocity, the tem-
perature and the concentration of the fluid along the
wall of wedge.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Numerical computations are carried out for 1≤M2≤5,
0.5≤γ≤5.0, 0.1≤γ1≤3.0 and 1≤τ≤3.0. Typical velocity,
temperature and concentration profiles are shown in
following Figures for Pr = 0.71 and some values for the
parameters γ, M2, τ, γ1, Sc, m, N, Ec and λ. The case
γ1»1.0 corresponds to pure free convection, γ1=1.0 cor-
responds to mixed convection and γ1«1.0 corresponds
to pure forced convection. Throughout this calculation
we have considered γ1=1.0 unless otherwise specified.
However, to check the present numerical results, we
calculate the values of the reduced heat and mass trans-
fer, respectively as: θ ´(0), φ´(0), from the vertical sur-
face (Ω=90º) for γ=M2=τ =N= Ec =0, γ1=2, Sc=λ=1 and
m=0.333 we obtained θ ´(0)=-0.443821, while the value
founded by Chamkha and Pop(2004) is θ ´(0)=-0.44325,
and by Cheng and Minkowycz (1977) is θ ´(0)=-0.4437.
Also for the different parameters γ=M2=τ = Ec =0, γ1=2,
N = 3, Sc = λ = 1 and m=0.333 we get θ´(0)=φ´(0) =
-0.627889, while Chamkha and Pop(2004) obtained
θ´(0)=φ´(0)=-0.62783. It can be seen these results are in
excellent agreement and the present numerical results
are very accurate.
In the absence of diffusion equations, in order to as-
certain the accuracy of our numerical results, the present
study is compared with the available exact solution in
the literature. The velocity profiles for ξ are compared
with the available exact solution of Minkowycz et al.
(1988), is shown in Fig. 2. It is observed that the agree-
ments with the theoretical solution of velocity and tem-
perature profiles are excellent.
Effects of thermophoretic parameter τ on velocity,
temperature and concentration field are shown in Fig. 3.
It is seen that the velocity and concentration of the fluid
decrease with increase of thermophoretic parameter. In
particular, the effect of increasing the thermophoretic
parameter τ is limited to increasing the wall slope of the
concentration profiles (is shown in Table I), but de-
creasing the concentration. This is true only for small
values of Schmidt number for which the Brownian dif-
fusion effect is large compared to the convection effect.
However, for large values of Schmidt number (Sc >
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Latin American Applied Research
Minkowycz et al. (1988)
f ' (η)
θ( η)
Present
f ' (η)
θ( η)
Fig. 2: Comparison of the velocity and temperature profiles.
with Minkowycz et al. (1988)
Pr = 0.71, Re x = 3, ξ = 1, λ = 0.1, Sc = 0.62, Ω = 30 0 ,
S = 1, γ = 0.1, M 2 = 1, Ec = 0.001, N = 3.0, γ 1 = 1.0
Fig. 3: Thermophoretic effects on velocity, temperature and
concentration profiles
100) the diffusion effect is minimal compared to the
convection effect and, therefore, the thermophoretic
parameter τ is expected to alter the concentration
boundary layer significantly. This is consistent with the
work of Goren (1977) on thermophoresis of aerosol
particles in wedge plate boundary layer.
Figure 4 presents typical profiles for velocity, tem-
perature and concentration for various values of mag-
netic parameter, for a physical situation with uniform
chemical reaction and thermophoretic effects. It is
clearly shown that the velocity of the fluid increases and
the temperature and concentration of the fluid slightly
157
40:153-159 (2010)
M 2 = 0 .1
M 2 = 1 .0
M 2 = 2 .0
Pr = 0.71, Re x = 3, ξ = 1, λ = 0.1, Sc = 0.62, Ω = 30 0 ,
S = 1, γ = 0.1, τ = 1, Ec = 0.001, N = 3.0, γ 1 = 1.0
Fig. 4: Magnetic effect on velocity, temperature and concen-
tration profiles
Pr = 0.71, Re x = 3, ξ = 1, λ = 0.1, M 2 = 1.0, Ω = 30 0 ,
S = 1, γ = 0.1, τ = 1, Ec = 0.001, N = 3.0, γ 1 = 1.0
Fig. 5: Schmidt number effect on velocity, temperature and
concentration profiles
decrease with increase of the strength of magnetic field.
The effects of a transverse magnetic field to an electri-
cally conducting fluid gives rise to a resistive-type force
called the Lorentz force. This force has the tendency to
speed up the motion of the fluid. This result qualita-
tively agrees with the expectations, since magnetic field
exerts retarding force on the mixed convection flow.
Application of a magnetic field moving with the free
stream has the tendency to induce a motive force which
decreases the motion of the fluid and increases its
boundary layer.
Effects of the Schmidt number on velocity, tempera-
ture and concentration profiles are shown through Fig 5.
It is seen from this figure that the velocity and concen-
tration of the fluid decrease with increase of Schmidt
number, whereas the profiles for velocity temperature is
not significant with increase of Schmidt number. It is
clear that the concentration decreases tremendously in
the presence of destructive reaction of the chemical re-
action.
 I. MUHAIMIN, R. KANDASAMY, A. B. KAMIS
Pr = 0.71, Re x = 3, ξ = 1, λ = 0.1, M 2 = 1.0, Ω = 30 0 ,
S = 1, Sc = 0.62, τ = 1, Ec = 0.001, N = 3.0, γ 1 = 1.0
Fig. 6: Destructive reaction effect on velocity, temperature and
concentration profiles
Pr = 0.71, Re x = 3, ξ = 1, λ = 0.1, M 2 = 1.0, Ω = 30 0 ,
Sc = 0.62, γ = 0.1, τ = 1, Ec = 0.001, N = 3.0, γ 1 = 1.0
Fig. 7: Suction effect on velocity, temperature and concentra-
tion profiles
Effects of chemical reaction with thermophoresis are
very important in the concentration field. The dimen-
sionless velocity, temperature and concentration distri-
bution for different destructive reaction of chemical
reaction is shown in Fig. 6. It is seen that the concentra-
tion of the fluid decreases with increase of destructive
reaction (γ > 0) whereas the velocity and temperature
profiles are significant with increase of destructive reac-
tion. Also, it is observed that the concentration of the
fluid decreases uniformly near the wall of the wedge.
Figure 7 illustrates the influence of the suction pa-
rameter S on the velocity, temperature and concentra-
tion profiles, respectively. The imposition of wall fluid
suction for this problem has the effect of increasing the
entire hydrodynamic and reduces the thermal and con-
centration boundary layers causing the fluid velocity to
increase while decreasing its temperature and concentra-
tion. The decreasing of thickness of the concentration
layer is caused by two effects; (i) the direct action of
suction, and (ii) the indirect action of suction causing a
thicker thermal boundary layer, which corresponds to
158
lower temperature gradient, a consequent increase in the
thermophoretic force and higher concentration gradient.
Effects of the buoyancy parameter on velocity, tem-
perature and concentration profiles are shown through
Fig. VIII. It is seen from the figure that the velocity of
the fluid for free convection flow is more dominant to
compare with the other convection flow whereas the
temperature and concentration of the fluid are not sig-
nificant with increase of γ 1 .
From the Table I, it is observed that the rate of mass
transfer decreases where as the skin friction and the rate
of heat transfer are not significant with increase of
thermophoresis parameter, along the wall of the wedge
and the skin friction and the rate of mass transfer of the
fluid along wall wedge decrease with increase of de-
structive reaction of the chemical reaction. It is interest-
ing to note that the rate of heat and mass transfer for
forced convection flow is more dominant to compare
with free and mixed convection flow.
V. CONCLUSIONS
In this work the problem of the effects of thermophore-
sis and chemical reaction on MHD mixed convective
heat and mass transfer past a porous wedge in the pres-
ence of suction is investigated. From the investigation, it
is noticed that the increase of the strength of thermopho-
resis particle deposition is expected to alter the concen
Table I: Analysis for skin friction and rate of heat and mass
transfer [Angle of inclination for wedge plate is Ω = 300
(m=0.0909)]
f ′′(0) θ ′(0) φ ′(0) Parameter
3.384939 -1.867120 -1.918325 τ = 0.1 . Thermophoresis effect
3.308493 -1.860694 -2.795521 τ = 1.0
3.237983 -1.862097 -3.823750 τ = 2.0
4.715437 -2.973093 -4.458539 γ = 0.1 Destructive reaction
4.675997 -2.971671 -5.059952 γ = 1.0
4.648628 -2.971441 -5.600021 γ = 2.0
4.321675 -2.960297 -4.441620 γ 1 = 0.1 Forced convection
4.715437 -2.973093 -4.458539 γ 1 = 1.0 Mixed convection
5.571960 -3.002195 -4.497317 γ 1 = 3.0 Free convection
Pr = 0.71, Re x = 3, ξ = 1, λ = 0.1, M 2 = 1.0, Ω = 30 0 ,
S = 1, γ = 0.1, τ = 1, Ec = 0.001, N = 3.0, Sc = 0.62
Fig. 8: Buoyancy effect on velocity, temperature and concen-
tration profiles
Latin American Applied Research
tration boundary layer significantly. Particularly, it is-
seen that the rate of heat and mass transfer for forced
convection flow is more dominant to compare with free
and mixed convection flow. So, the increase of the
strength of thermophoresis and chemical reaction with
magnetic effects have a substantial effect on the flow
field and, thus, on the heat and mass transfer rate from
the sheet to the fluid. Thermophoresis with chemical
reaction plays an important role on the rapid growth of
China’s economy has led to severe air pollution charac-
terized by acid rain, severe pollution in cities, and re-
gional air pollution. High concentrations are found for
various pollutants such as sulfur dioxides (SO2), nitro-
gen oxides (NOx), and fine particulates. Great efforts
have thus been undertaken for the control of air pollu-
tion in the country. It is hoped that the results obtained
will not only provide useful information for applica-
tions, but also serve as a complement to the previous
studies.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors wish to express their cordial thanks to our
beloved The Vice-Chancellor and The Director of Cen-
tre for Science Studies, UTHM Malaysia for their en-
couragements.
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Received: March 26, 2008.
Accepted: February 19, 2009.
Recommended by Subject Editor Orlando Alfano.