Simulation of Prandtl Nanofluid in the Mixed Convective Flow of Activation Energy with Gyrotactic Microorganisms: Numerical Outlook Features of Micro-Machines

Micromachines (Basel). 2023 Feb 27;14(3):559. doi: 10.3390/mi14030559.

Abstract

The physiological systems and biological applications that have arisen during the past 15 years depend heavily on the microscale and nanoscale fluxes. Microchannels have been utilized to develop new diagnostic assays, examine cell adhesion and molecular transport, and replicate the fluid flow microenvironment of the circulatory system. The various uses of MHD boundary flow in engineering and technology are extensive, ranging from MHD power generators and the polymer industry to MHD flow meters and pumps and the spinning of filaments. In this investigation, the (Magnetohydrodynamic) MHD flow of Prandtl nanofluid is investigated along with mixed convection, energy activation, microorganism, and chemical reaction. The flow model is considered through partial differential equations in dimensionless form which is then integrated numerically via considering the Bvp4c technique. The outcome is numerous emerging physical parameters over velocity profile, temperature, mass concentration, and microorganism with the separate pertinent quantities such as the Prandtl fluid parameter, elastic fluid parameter, magnetic field, mixed convection parameter, activation energy, chemical reaction, Brownian motion, thermophoretic force, Prandtl number, and Schmidt number. The friction factor, rate of heat transfer and Sherwood number, and density of microbes are revealed numerically and graphically. The outcomes indicate that the Prandtl fluid parameter and elastic fluid parameter tend to enhance the velocity profile. It is also noted that the Prandtl fluid parameter depreciates the thermal rate with the addition of the concentration profile while the opposite trend is recorded for activation energy. Obtained numerical outcomes are correspondingly compared with the current statistics in limiting cases and a close match is obtained.

Keywords: MHD; Prandtl fluid; activation energy; microorganism; mixed convection; nanofluid.

Grants and funding

The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University for supporting this work by Grant Code: 22UQU4400074DSR05. This study is supported via funding from Prince Satam bin Abdulaziz University project number (PSAU/2023/R/1444). Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2023R163), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.