EFFECTS OF EXOTHERMIC AND ENDOTHERMIC CHEMICAL REACTIONS ON NON-DARCIAN UNSTEADY MICROPOLAR FLOW ALONG A VERTICAL SURFACE

Abstract

The problem of unsteady non–Newtonian flow past a vertical porous plate in the presence of thermal radiation is investigated. Using the theory of boundary layer analysis, the unsteady micropolar flow in the presence of exothermic and endothermic chemical reaction is considered. It is assumed that the relationship between the flow rate and the pressure drop as the micropolar fluid flows over a porous medium is non–linear. The governing partial differential equations of the physical model are reduced to ordinary differential equations by introducing local similarity transformation. The qualitative properties of the dimensionless governing equations are established. These equations along with the boundary conditions are solved numerically using shooting method along with Runge-Kutta-Gill method together with quadratic interpolation. The computational results for velocity, temperature, micro-rotation and concentration are shown graphically for various flow parameters. It is found that increase in micro-rotation parameter increases the velocity while the micro-rotation decreases across the flow region. Maximum micro-rotation of tiny particles is guaranteed at higher values of the suction parameter. Local heat transfer rate decreases with an increase in the magnitude of the exothermic/endothermic parameter. A significant decrease in the horizontal velocity is guaranteed with an increase in the magnitude of radiation parameter