Natural Convective Boundary Layer Flow Over a Nonisothermal Vertical Plate Embedded in a Porous Medium Saturated With a Nanofluid

Nanofluid refers to a liquid containing a dispersion of submicronic solid particles or nanoparticles. Nanofluids display a thermal conductivity enhancement. This phenomenon suggests the possibility of using nanofluids in electronic cooling and advanced nuclear systems. In this article, a boundary layer analysis is presented for the natural convection past a nonisothermal vertical plate in a porous medium saturated with a nanofluid. Numerical results for friction factor, surface heat transfer rate, and mass transfer rate are presented for parametric variations of the buoyancy ratio parameter, Nr; Brownian motion parameter, Nb; thermophoresis parameter, Nt; Lewis number, Le; and the power law exponent, λ. The dependency of the friction factor, surface heat transfer rate (Nusselt number), and mass transfer rate on these parameters is discussed.