ISSN 1749-3889 (print), 1749-3897 (online)

International Journal of Nonlinear Science

Vol.9(2010) No.4,pp.468-479

Internal Heat Generation and Radiation Effects on a Certain Free Convection Flow
Rafael Cortell∗
Departamento de Fı́sica Aplicada, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales
Puertos, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 46071 Valencia, Spain
(Received 14 March 2010, accepted 21 April 2010)

Abstract: This paper treats about the problem of boundary layer free convection flow along a permeable
vertical flat surface with prescribed power-law temperature distribution 𝑇𝑤 (𝑥) = 𝑇∞ + 𝐴𝑥𝑘 at 𝑦 = 0
embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium and subjected to an applied lateral mass flux proportional to
𝑘−1
the 𝑥 2 quantity. Further, internal heat generation and thermal radiation are also considered in the energy
equation. A very good agreement with previous results of Postelnicu et al. [24] is encountered.

Keywords: laminar boundary layers; free convection; porous media

1 Introduction
Convective flow and heat transfer in a saturated porous medium has gained growing interest. This fact has been motivated
by its importance in many engineering applications such as building thermal insulation, geothermal systems, food process-
ing and grain storage, solar power collectors, contaminant transport in groundwater, casting in manufacturing processes,
drying processes, nuclear waste, just to name a few. A theoretical and experimental work on this subject can be found
in the recent monographs by Ingham and Pop [1] and Nield and Bejan [2]. Suction/blowing on convective heat transfer
over a vertical permeable surface embedded in a porous medium was analyzed by Cheng [3]. In that work an application
to warm water discharge along the well or fissure to an aquifer of infinite extent is discussed. Kim and Vafai [4] have
analyzed the buoyancy driven flow about a vertical plate for constant wall temperature and heat flux. Raptis and Singh [5]
studied flow past an impulsively started vertical plate in a porous medium by a finite difference method. Mixed convection
boundary-layer flow over a vertical surface in a porous medium was also investigated in Refs. [6-7].
On the other hand, it is well-known that in processes involving high temperatures the effects of radiation are of vital
importance. In view of this, Hossain and Pop [8] have analyzed the radiation effect on a free convection flow along an
inclined plate in a porous space. Mahmoud [9] analyzed unsteady hydromagnetic convection flow over a vertical plate
with thermal radiation. Raptis [10] has considered thermal radiation and free convection in a porous space, and, moreover,
several recent researches [11-17] have studied the effect of radiation. Also, some relevant analyses about the problem
are mentioned in the references [18-22]. Most of the above investigations are based upon the laminar boundary-layer
approach.
Furthermore, Lesnic et al. [23] studied the same problem as in Ref. [3] with Newtonian heating and Postelnicu et al.
[24] extended a previous work without suction/blowing to the case of permeable surface using the Keller-Box method.
The problem is reduced to a single third-order, nonlinear ordinary differential equation so-called Cheng and Minkowycz’s
[25] equation. For the case of an impermeable surface, very recently, Liao and Pop [26] and Xu [27] have solved that
equation using the homotopy analysis method. Moreover, Magyari et al. [28, 29] have obtained analytical solutions
for impermeable and permeable surfaces. Further, a critical review on boundary conditions, existence and uniqueness
of the solution has been provided by Belhachmi et al. [25]. They proved that if 𝑘 ∈ [0, 1/3](the surface temperature
parameter), then there is an only solution which is physically meaningful. In this work, the temperature of the sheet
is taken to be higher than the temperature of the fluid. This paper aims to find numerical solutions for the well-known
Cheng-Minkowycz model of the Darcy free convection boundary-layer flow over a permeable vertical plate. This plate is
𝑘−1
subjected to an applied lateral mass flux proportional to the 𝑥 2 quantity. In Sections 2-3 we shall consider the complete
∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: rcortell@fis.upv.es

Copyright⃝World
c Academic Press, World Academic Union
IJNS.2010.06.30/375
R. Cortell: Internal Heat Generation and Radiation Effects on a Certain Free Convection Flow 469

free convection problem about a vertical flat plate. Finally, several interesting behaviours of the effects of suction/blowing,
internal heat generation and thermal radiation on flow and heat transfer characteristics are discussed in Section 4.

Table 1: Nomenclature
𝐴 constant
𝑎, 𝐶 physical parameters related with stretched surface
𝐶𝑃 specific heat capacity of the fluid at constant pressure
𝑓 dimensionless stream function
𝑔 acceleration due to gravity
𝐾 permeability of the porous medium
𝑘 surface temperature parameter
𝑘𝑚 fluid thermal conductivity
𝑘0 parameter related with thermal radiation
𝑘 ∗ mean absorption coefficient
𝑁𝑅 radiation parameter
𝑁 𝑢𝑥 local Nusselt number
𝑛 nonlinear stretching parameter
Ra𝑥 Darcy-Rayleigh number
𝑞 heat flux
𝑞𝑟 radiation flux
𝑞′′′ internal heat generation
𝑇 temperature across the boundary layer
𝑢, 𝑣 velocity components along 𝑥 and 𝑦 directions, respectively
𝑥, 𝑦 Cartesian coordinates along the plate and normal to it, respectively
Greek symbols
𝛼𝑚 effective thermal diffusivity
𝛽 coefficient of thermal expansion
𝜂 dimensionless similarity variable
𝜃 dimensionless temperature
𝜇 dynamic viscosity
𝜐kinematic viscosity
𝜌 density
𝜎 ∗ Stephan-Boltzmann constant
𝜓physical stream function
Subscripts
𝑤, ∞conditions at the surface and in the free stream, respectively
Superscript
prime derivative with respect to 𝜂

2 Problem Formulation
Let us consider the steady free convection flow over a vertical, permeable and semi-infinite flat plate of variable tempera-
ture, which is embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium at the ambient temperature 𝑇∞ . It is assumed that the porous
medium is homogeneous and isotropic, that all properties of the fluid and porous medium are constant. It is also assumed
that convection takes place in a thin layer around the vertical heating surface. Darcy’s law is assumed to hold and the fluid
is assumed to be a normal Boussinesq fluid. Under the boundary-layer approximations, the governing equations for that
problem can be written as [24]:
∂2Ψ 𝑔𝐾𝛽 ∂𝑇
2
= (1)
∂𝑦 𝜐 ∂𝑦
( )
∂Ψ ∂𝑇 ∂Ψ ∂𝑇 ∂2𝑇
(𝜌𝐶𝑃 )𝑓 − = 𝑘𝑚 2 + 𝑞 ′′′ (2)
∂𝑦 ∂𝑥 ∂𝑥 ∂𝑦 ∂𝑦
According to the coordinate system, the 𝑥-axis is chosen parallel to the vertical plate, that is the direction of flow, and
the 𝑦-axis is taken normal to it. Ψ is the stream function defined in the usual way as 𝑢 = ∂Ψ/∂𝑦 and 𝑣 = −∂Ψ/∂𝑥 with

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470 International Journal of NonlinearScience,Vol.9(2010),No.4,pp. 468-479

Figure 1: The sketch of the physical problem.

𝑢 and 𝑣 being the Darcy’s velocity components along 𝑥 and 𝑦-axes, 𝑇 is the temperature of the fluid, 𝐾 is the permeability
of the porous medium, 𝑔 is the acceleration due to gravity, 𝛽 is the coefficient of thermal expansion, 𝑘𝑚 is the thermal
conductivity, 𝜌 is the density, 𝐶𝑃 is the specific heat capacity of the fluid at constant pressure and 𝑞 ′′′ is the internal heat
generation; the suffix 𝑓 indicates conditions in the ambient fluid far from the surface.
The physical problem assumes the following boundary conditions:

∂Ψ 𝑔𝐾𝛽𝐴 𝑘 ∂Ψ
= 𝑥 ; − = 𝑎𝑥𝑛 ; 𝑇𝑤 (𝑥) = 𝑇∞ + 𝐴𝑥𝑘 𝑎𝑡 𝑦 = 0, (3)
∂𝑦 𝜐 ∂𝑥

∂Ψ
→ 0; 𝑇 → 𝑇∞ 𝑎𝑠 𝑦 → ∞. (4)
∂𝑦
where 𝑛, 𝑘, 𝐴(> 0), 𝑎(𝑎 > 0 injection; 𝑎 = 0 impermeable wall; 𝑎 < 0 suction) are constants and 𝑛 = (𝑘 − 1)/2 provides
similarity solutions. Realize that we take variable temperature at the sheet (see third condition (3)).
Under the transformation
𝑇 − 𝑇∞
Ψ = 𝛼𝑚 𝑅𝑎1/2𝑥 𝑓 (𝜂); 𝜃(𝜂) =
𝑇𝑤 − 𝑇∞
𝑦
𝜂 = 𝑅𝑎1/2
𝑥 . (5)
𝑥
where 𝛼𝑚 is the effective thermal diffusivity of the porous medium and 𝑅𝑎𝑥 is the local Rayleigh number (= 𝑔𝐾𝛽𝑥(𝑇𝑤 −
𝑇∞ )/𝛼𝑚 𝜈) and taking [24]
𝑘𝑚 (𝑇𝑤 − 𝑇∞ )
𝑞 ′′′ = 𝑅𝑎𝑥 exp(−𝜂) (6)
𝑥2
Eqs. (1) and (2) give
𝑓 ′′ = 𝜃′ (7)
which in combination with Eqs.(2) and (6) gives

𝑘 + 1 ′′
𝑓 ′′′ + 𝑓 𝑓 − 𝑘(𝑓 ′ )2 + exp(−𝜂) = 0, (8)
2
and the boundary conditions (3) and (4) become

𝑓 (0) = −𝑓𝑤 , 𝑓 ′ (0) = 1, (9a)

𝑓 ′ (∞) = 0. (9b)
Here, the prime denotes differentiation with respect to 𝜂 and the mass flux parameter 𝑓𝑤 is given by
( )1/2
2𝑎 𝛼𝑚 𝜐
𝑓𝑤 = ∣𝑓 (0)∣ = . (10)
(𝑘 + 1)𝛼𝑚 𝑔𝐾𝛽𝐴

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R. Cortell: Internal Heat Generation and Radiation Effects on a Certain Free Convection Flow 471

The so-called Cheng and Minkowycz’s [25] equation can be obtained from Eq. (8) when the heat generation term (i.
e., exp (-𝜂)) is absent. If the latter is assumed, the velocity components are

𝑢(𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝛼𝑚 𝑀 𝑥𝑘 𝑓 ′ (𝜂),

1 1 𝑘−1
𝑣(𝑥, 𝑦) = − 𝛼𝑚 𝑀 2 𝑥 2 [(𝑘 + 1)𝑓 (𝜂) + (𝑘 − 1)𝜂𝑓 ′ (𝜂)] (11)
2
𝑔𝐾𝛽𝐴
with 𝑀 = 𝜐𝛼𝑚 ; further, from third Eq.(5) we get,

1 𝑘−1
𝜂 = 𝑀 2 𝑦𝑥 2 . (12)

From Eqs. (11) and (12) after some algebra, one easily determines that the continuity equation ∂𝑢
∂𝑥 +
∂𝑣
∂𝑦 = 0 is met.
On the other hand, with the help of Eqs. (11), and taking into account Eqs.(9a) and (9b), one obtains

𝑔𝐾𝛽𝐴 𝑘
𝑢(𝑥, 0) = 𝑢𝑤 = 𝑥 ,
𝜐
𝑘−1
𝑣(𝑥, 0) = 𝑣𝑤 = 𝑎𝑥 2 = 𝑎𝑥𝑛 , (13)
𝑘−1
and a lateral mass flux proportional to 𝑥 2 is applied. It is clear that 𝑘 = 1 represents the uniform lateral mass flux case
(i.e., 𝑣𝑤 = 𝑎). Moreover, one can write
𝑢(𝑥, ∞) = 0,
[ ] 12
𝛼𝑚 𝜌∞ 𝑔𝛽𝐾𝐴𝑥𝑘−1
𝑣(𝑥, ∞) = 𝑣∞ = −(1 + 𝑘) 𝑓∞ , (14)
4𝜇
where 𝑓∞ will be referred to as similar entrainment velocity (see [29]). This is the transversal component 𝑣(𝑥, 𝑦) of the
velocity field v(𝑢(𝑥, 𝑦), 𝑣(𝑥, 𝑦), 0) at the outer edge of the boundary layer. On integrating Eq. (7) and applying the
boundary conditions Eqs.(9a) and (9b) along with 𝜃(0) = 1, and 𝜃(∞) = 0 one easily determines that the dimensionless
temperature profiles 𝜃(𝜂) are identical to the self-similar streamwise velocity 𝑓 ′ (𝜂), that is,

𝜃(𝜂) = 𝑓 ′ (𝜂). (15)

Thus, quantities of physical interest such as 𝜃′ (0) whose values are related to the heat transferred through the surface can
be calculated numerically in terms of the velocity gradient at the wall (i. e, 𝜃′ (0) = 𝑓 ′′ (0)).
The local Nusselt number can be expressed as
𝑞𝑤 𝑥
𝑁 𝑢𝑥 = , (16)
𝐾(𝑇𝑤 − 𝑇∞ )
( ) 1 3𝑘−1
∂𝑇
where 𝑞𝑤 = −𝑘𝑚 ∂𝑦 = −𝑘𝑚 𝐴𝑀 2 𝑥 2 𝜃′ (0), and 𝑘 = 1/3 corresponds to uniform heat flux at the wall inde-
𝑦=0
pendent of 𝑥; so, one obtains from Eq. (16)
1 𝑘+1
𝑁 𝑢𝑥 = −𝑀 2 𝑥 2 𝜃′ (0), (17)
𝑁 𝑢𝑥
and the non-dimensional group 1 takes the form
𝑅𝑎𝑥2

𝑁 𝑢𝑥
1 = −𝜃′ (0) = −𝑓 ′′ (0). (18)
𝑅𝑎𝑥 2

3 Illustrative Results
The problem {(8), (9)𝑎−𝑏 } analyzed by Postelnicu et al. [24] was solved as an initial value problem with the step size
Δ𝜂 = 0.02. Details of numerical procedure can be obtained from [31-33].

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472 International Journal of NonlinearScience,Vol.9(2010),No.4,pp. 468-479

3.1 The case of 𝑓𝑤 = 0.

In this circumstance an impermeable (i. e., 𝑎 = 0) and semi-infinite vertical flat-plate is considered. When the heat
generation term (i. e. exp(-𝜂)) in Eq.(8) is absent we obtain from Eqs.(8) and (9)

𝑘 + 1 ′′
𝑓 ′′′ + 𝑓 𝑓 − 𝑘(𝑓 ′ )2 = 0, (19)
2
with the following boundary conditions
𝑓 (0) = 0, 𝑓 ′ (0) = 1,

𝑓 ′ (∞) = 0. (20)
The problem {(19), (20)} is the so-called Cheng and Minkowycz’s problem which, for 𝑘 = 1, has the solution given
by 𝑓 (𝜂) = 1 − exp(𝜂). That boundary-layer problem was solved by Liao and Pop [26] and Xu [27]. In Ref. [26], exact
analytical solutions for −1/2 < 𝑘 < ∞ expressed in terms of recursive functions were presented, and in Ref. [27] a
comparison between the analytical solutions and numerical solutions was given. Moreover, Cheng [3] provides numerical
solutions in the domain −1/3 < 𝑘 < 1. The problem {(19), (20)} was solved for two values of 𝑘 and the computational
results are listed in Table 2 and graphed in Figure 2. It can be seen from these numerical results that 𝑓 and 𝑓 ′ increases
with decreasing 𝑘. However, the effect of 𝑘 on –𝑓 ′′ (0) is quite the opposite. From these behaviours, it can be also seen
that for a given position 𝜂, 𝜃(𝜂)(= 𝑓 ′ (𝜂)) decreases as the parameter 𝑘 increases, resulting in a decrease of the thermal
boundary layer thickness. Note from Table 2 that boundary condition (9b) is met and we also see that 𝑓 ′′ (∞) → 0. Taking
into account our present problem, the latter is equivalent to 𝜃′ (𝜂) → 0 𝑎𝑠 𝜂 → ∞. This augmented condition states that
no heat fluxes should prevail outside the thermal boundary layer. In this manner, suitable and accurate results can be
obtained.

Table 2: Values of 𝑓, 𝑓 ′ and 𝑓 ′′ for two values of the parameter 𝑘 with 𝑓𝑤 = 0 (impermeable surface)
𝑘 𝜂 𝑓 𝑓 ′ (= 𝜃) −𝑓 ′′ (= −𝜃′ ) 𝑘 𝜂 𝑓 𝑓 ′ (= 𝜃) −𝑓 ′′ (= −𝜃′ )
1/3 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.677642 1/10 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.523525
0.2 0.186891 0.871124 0.611261 0.2 0.189675 0.897526 0.500190
0.4 0.349326 0.755386 0.546492 0.4 0.359363 0.800334 0.470990
0.6 0.489892 0.652331 0.484652 0.6 0.510226 0.709400 0.437821
0.8 0.611059 0.561267 0.426704 0.8 0.643584 0.625367 0.402232
1.0 0.715142 0.481348 0.373274 1.0 0.760856 0.548571 0.365671
1.4 0.880410 0.351142 0.281037 1.4 0.952967 0.416754 0.294194
1.8 1.000455 0.253952 0.207974 1.8 1.097908 0.312238 0.229930
2.0 1.047293 0.215422 0.178009 2.0 1.155950 0.269136 0.201526
3.0 1.193340 0.093039 0.079053 3.0 1.344134 0.124396 0.098232
4.0 1.255920 0.039552 0.034000 4.0 1.429879 0.055873 0.045179
5.0 1.282438 0.016707 0.014422 5.0 1.468143 0.024772 0.020238
10.0 1.301580 0.000246 0.000190 10.0 1.497874 0.000416 0.000334
15.0 1.301968 3.1x10−5 2.5x10−6 15.0 1.498409 1.7x10−5 5.4x10−6

In case of impermeable surface (i.e., 𝑓𝑤 = 0), it is clear that the lower the value of the surface temperature parameter
𝑘, the larger is the corresponding entrainment velocity 𝑓∞ and dimensionless wall temperature 𝜃′ (0).

3.2 The case of 𝑓𝑤 ∕= 0 without internal heat generation

In this circumstance a permeable (i.e.𝑎 ∕= 0) and semi-infinite vertical flat-plate is considered.
Consequently, Eq.(19) subject to the boundary conditions (9a) and (9b) was solved for some values of the parameters
𝑘 and 𝑓𝑤 .
The results of the numerical solutions for several values of 𝑘 when suction (i. e., 𝑓𝑤 < 0) or injection (i. e., 𝑓𝑤 > 0)
is present are shown in Figure 3. It is seen from this Figure that when the suction exists [−𝜃′ (0)] = [−𝑓 ′′ (0)] increases
and, as a result, the thermal boundary layer thickness decreases while it increases in the injection case. In other words,
the influence of suction is to decrease the temperature distribution with its increases whereas the effect of injection is to
increase this temperature and hence reduce the heat transfer rate.

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R. Cortell: Internal Heat Generation and Radiation Effects on a Certain Free Convection Flow 473

Figure 2: Variation with 𝜂 of the functions 𝑓 , 𝑓 ′ Figure 3: Variation with 𝜂 of the functions 𝑓 , 𝑓 ′
and 𝑓 ′′ for two values of the parameter 𝑘 with and 𝑓 ′′ for 𝑘 = 1/20 with 𝑓𝑤 ∕= 0 (permeable
𝑓𝑤 = 0(impermeable surface). surface) when the heat generation is absent.

3.2.1 An analytical solution

Taking into consideration Eq. (7), the problem under investigation presented by Eq. (19) can be rewritten as

𝑘+1 ′
𝜃′′ + 𝑓 𝜃 − 𝑘𝑓 ′ 𝜃 = 0, (21)
2
along with boundary conditions (9a) and (9b). One can obtain an exact closed form solution in terms of 𝜂 corresponding
to special value of the surface temperature parameter 𝑘 such that 𝑘 = − 13 . The energy equation (21) for this particular
problem leads to
𝑓 𝜃′ + 𝑓 ′ 𝜃
𝜃′′ + = 0, (22)
3
that is,
1
𝜃′ + 𝑓 𝜃 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡. (23)
3
and the boundary conditions at infinity (i.e.,𝜃(∞) = 𝜃′ (∞) = 0) conduct to

1
𝜃′ + 𝑓 𝜃 = 0. (24)
3
In the light of the boundary conditions (9a) one can get for any 𝑓 (0)(= −𝑓𝑤 )

1 1
𝜃′ (0) = − 𝑓 (0) = 𝑓𝑤 = 𝑓 ′′ (0), (25)
3 3
and from Eq. (18) we get
𝑁 𝑢𝑥 1
= −𝜃′ (0) = −𝑓 ′′ (0) = − 𝑓𝑤 . (26)
𝑅𝑎𝑥
1
2 3

It is concluded that the adiabatic wall case (i.e.,𝜃′ (0) = 0) is provided by an impermeable surface (i.e.,𝑓𝑤 = 0).
On the other hand, the wall curvature 𝜃′′ (0) of the temperature profile can be obtained from Eq. (22) by the following
simple form
−1 𝑓2
𝜃′′ (0) = (1 − 𝑤 ). (27)
3 3
Eqs. (26) and (27) show that for 𝑘 = − 13 the curvature is 𝑓𝑤 parameter dependent. It is worth mentioning that Magyari
√
and Rees [29] provide for this case 𝑓∞ = 6 + 𝑓𝑤2 .

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474 International Journal of NonlinearScience,Vol.9(2010),No.4,pp. 468-479

3.3 The case of 𝑓𝑤 ∕= 0 with internal heat generation

In this case a permeable (i. e., 𝑎 ∕= 0) and semi-infinite vertical flat-plate is considered and the Eq. (8) with boundary
conditions (9a) and (9b) was solved for some values of the parameters 𝑘 and 𝑓𝑤 . The results of the numerical solutions
for two values of 𝑘 and permeable surface are shown in Table 3 and Figure 4. It can be seen from Table 3 that the results
are in good agreement with those given by Postelnicu et al. [24]
We observe that the inclusion of the heat generation could significantly influence the thermal characteristics at the
sheet than that without it. When the heat generation is taken into account an increase of the surface temperature occur.
Further, when injection exists, the values of ∣𝜃′ (0)∣ are reduced and a temperature overshoot (i. e., 𝜃 > 1) might occur
near the sheet. This phenomenon is due to the fact the amount of the heat generated in the fluid region is large enough so
that the fluid temperature near the sheet is higher than that at the sheet (i. e., 𝑇 > 𝑇𝑤 ), resulting in a heat flow from the
fluid region to the surface (𝜃′ (0) > 0).

Table 3: Values of 𝑓 , 𝑓 ′ and 𝑓 ′′ at the wall for 𝑘 = 1/3 and 𝑓𝑤 ∕= 0(permeable surface) when the heat generation is present.
The corresponding entrainment velocity 𝑓∞ is also appointed.
𝑘 𝑓𝑤 𝑓 (0) 𝑓 ′ (0) −𝑓 ′′ (0) = −𝜃′ (0) −𝑓 ′′ (0)(𝑃 𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑢 𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑙.[24]) 𝑓∞
1/3 1 -1.0 1.0 -0.066178 -0.0662 1.377439
0.6 -0.6 1.0 -0.009357 -0.0094 1.532509
-0.6 0.6 1.0 0.286887 0.2869 2.114561
-1 1 1.0 0.428891 0.4289 2.350520

In the light of Table 3, it is worth appointing here that for 𝑘 = 13 , a stronger blowing (i.e.,𝑓 (0) < 0) provides an
entrainment velocity 𝑓∞ lower, whereas a stronger suction (i.e.,𝑓 (0) > 0) determines an entrainment velocity 𝑓∞ larger.
On the other hand, one can see that an augment in ∣𝑓𝑤 ∣ yields augments in ∣𝜃′ (0)∣ for all the cases (suction and injection).

Figure 4: Variation with 𝜂 of the Figure 5: Plots of 𝜃 and 𝜃′ functions for two values of 𝑘
functions 𝑓 , 𝑓 ′ and 𝑓 ′′ for 𝑘 = 1/10 with (solid line) and without (broken line) thermal radiation
with 𝑓𝑤 ∕= 0 (permeable surface) when 𝑁𝑅 = 1, 𝑓𝑤 = 0.1 (injection) and the internal heat
when the heat generation is present. generation is present.

3.4 Radiation effects

Eq. (2) in the presence of thermal radiation is given by
( )
∂Ψ ∂𝑇 ∂Ψ ∂𝑇 ∂2𝑇 ∂𝑞𝑟
(𝜌𝐶𝑃 )𝑓 − = 𝑘𝑚 2 + 𝑞 ′′′ − (28)
∂𝑦 ∂𝑥 ∂𝑥 ∂𝑦 ∂𝑦 ∂𝑦

where 𝑞𝑟 is the radiative heat flux.

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R. Cortell: Internal Heat Generation and Radiation Effects on a Certain Free Convection Flow 475

For the radiative heat flux in Eq. (28), we use the differential approximation (see, for example, Elbarbary and Elgazery
∫∞ ( 𝜆ℎ )
[34]) given by ∇.𝑞𝑟 = 4(𝑇 − 𝑇𝑤 ) 𝐾𝜆𝑤 ∂𝑒 ∂𝑇 𝑤 𝑑𝜆, where, 𝐾𝜆𝑤 = 𝐾𝜆 (𝑇𝑤 ) is the absorption coefficient, 𝑒𝜆ℎ is the
0
Plank’s function, 𝜆 is the wavelength and subscript 𝑤 indicates wall condition. For an optically thick fluid, in addition to
emission there is also self-absorption and, in general, the absorption coefficient is large and wavelength dependent (see
also [35]). One can thus adopt the Rosseland approximation for radiation in an optically thick fluid [36] by considering
an approximation of the last equation where the radiative heat flux is simplified as

4𝜎 ∗ ∂𝑇 4
𝑞𝑟 = − , (29)
3𝑘 ∗ ∂𝑦
where 𝜎 ∗ and 𝑘 ∗ are the Stefan-Boltzmann constant and the mean absorption coefficient, respectively. This approximation
is valid at points optically far from the boundary surface, and, it is good only for intensive absorption, that is for an optically
thick boundary layer [37-38]. We assume that the temperature differences within the flow such as that the term 𝑇 4 in Eq.
(22) may be expressed as a linear function of temperature. Hence, expanding 𝑇 4 in a Taylor series about the free stream
temperature 𝑇∞ and neglecting higher-order terms we get

𝑇4 ∼ 3
= 4𝑇∞ 4
𝑇 − 3𝑇∞ , (30)

In view of Eqs. (29) and (30), Eq. (28) reduces to

∂Ψ ∂𝑇 ∂Ψ ∂𝑇 16𝜎 ∗ 𝑇∞
3
∂2𝑇 𝑞 ′′′
− = (𝛼𝑚 + ) + . (31)
∂𝑦 ∂𝑥 ∂𝑥 ∂𝑦 3𝜌𝐶𝑃 𝑘 ∗ ∂𝑦 2 𝜌𝐶𝑃
From the above equation it is seen that the effect of radiation is to enhance the effective thermal diffusivity. With the
help of Eqs. (5), (6), (11), (12) and (31), one can obtain
𝑘 + 1 ′′
𝑓 ′′′ + 𝑘0 ( 𝑓 𝑓 − 𝑘(𝑓 ′ )2 + exp(−𝜂)) = 0, (32)
2
∗
3𝑁𝑅 𝑘𝑚 𝑘
where 𝑘0 = 3𝑁𝑅 +4
, and 𝑁𝑅 = 4𝜎 ∗ 𝑇 3 is the radiation parameter.
∞
Now, the wall heat flux can be expressed as
( )
∂𝑇 𝑘𝑚 1 3𝑘−1
𝑞𝑤 = −𝑘𝑚 + (𝑞𝑟 )𝑤 = − 𝐴𝑀 2 𝑥 2 𝜃′ (0) (33)
∂𝑦 𝑤 𝑘0

and the local Nusselt number can be appointed as

1 1 𝑘+1
𝑁 𝑢𝑥 = − 𝑀 2 𝑥 2 𝜃′ (0), (34)
𝑘0
𝑁 𝑢𝑥
so, taking into account thermal radiation effects, the non-dimensional group 1 takes now the following form:
𝑅𝑎𝑥2

𝑁 𝑢𝑥 1 ′ 1
=− 𝜃 (0) = − 𝑓 ′′ (0). (35)
𝑅𝑎𝑥
1
2 𝑘0 𝑘0

3𝑁𝑅
𝑘0 (= 3𝑁 𝑅 +4
) approaches unity for very large 𝑁𝑅 values; so that radiation’s effects can be negligible when a very large
𝑁𝑅 parameter takes place on the problem. Also, it is worth appointing that by setting 𝑘 = 13 into Eq.(33), the wall heat
flux 𝑞𝑤 turns 𝑥-independent. For sake of completeness and transparency, all the quantities of physical and engineering
interest, that is, temperature gradient at the wall 𝜃′ (0)(= 𝑓 ′′ (0)), integration domain 𝜂∞ defined as 𝑓 ′ (𝜂∞ ) ≈ 10−4 and
entrainment velocity 𝑓∞ (= 𝑓 (𝜂∞ )) as a function of all parameters entering into the problem, have been included in Table
4. Further, the effects of internal heat generation are also analyzed. According to our knowledge, these accurate numerical
results have not yet been provided in detail.
It is clear from Table 4 that the integration domain shrinks with increasing values of the parameters 𝑘 or 𝑁𝑅 . It is
further clear from Table 4 that blowing broadens the values of 𝜂∞ and an opposite trend can be seen for the case of suction.
The effect of increasing 𝑘 or 𝑁𝑅 is to decrease the magnitude of 𝑓∞ in the boundary-layer flow region. Moreover,
for fixed 𝑘, the effect of increasing blowing is to diminish the entrainment velocity 𝑓∞ . The latter augment for stronger
suction.

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476 International Journal of NonlinearScience,Vol.9(2010),No.4,pp. 468-479

Table 4: Some flow and heat transfer characteristics for the problem under consideration.
−1
𝑓 ′′ (0) = 𝜃′ (0) = −𝑘0 𝑁𝑢𝑥 𝑅𝑎𝑥 2
′
𝑘 𝑓𝑤 𝑁𝑅 𝑓 (0) With internal heat generation Without internal heat generation
𝜂∞ −𝜃′ (0) 𝑓∞ 𝜂∞ −𝜃′ (0) 𝑓∞
0 0.1 1 -0.1 18.18 -0.035835 2.874561 18.70 0.277992 2.433362
1/5 16.80 0.086099 2.481180 17.90 0.374932 2.102914
1/3 16.18 0.151726 2.294572 16.86 0.428603 1.944596

1/4 0.1 1 -0.1 16.32 0.111820 2.405802 17.59 0.395849 2.039250

0.0 0.0 15.58 0.123578 2.449544 17.04 0.410177 2.081054
-0.1 0.1 15.40 0.135717 2.494920 16.74 0.424893 2.124563

1/5 -0.1 1 0.1 16.08 0.109317 2.568418 18.30 0.403144 2.186970

3 12.62 0.074114 2.197777 13.76 0.517396 1.729647
5 11.92 0.058858 2.116333 12.48 0.554227 1.622220

Figure 6: Plots of 𝜃 and 𝜃′ functions for two values Figure 7: Plots of 𝜃 and 𝜃′ functions for two val-
of 𝑘 with (solid line) and without (broken line) ther- ues of 𝑁𝑅 with (solid line) and without (bro-
mal radiation when 𝑁𝑅 = 1, 𝑓𝑤 = 0.1 (injection) ken line)internal heat generation when 𝑘 =
and the internal heat generation is absent. 1/5, 𝑓𝑤 = −0.1 (suction).

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R. Cortell: Internal Heat Generation and Radiation Effects on a Certain Free Convection Flow 477

The combined effect of increasing values of 𝑘 and 𝑁𝑅 is to decrease the magnitude of 𝜃(𝜂) largely in the boundary
layer. When the internal heat generation and a strong blowing are considered, the reversed wall heat fluxes (i.e., the
“temperature hills” of the 𝜃 − 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠) can be appeared. Having in mind that the dimensionless temperature 𝜃(𝜂) coin-
cides with the dimensionless streamwise velocity 𝑓 ′ (𝜂), the overshoot temperature represents at the same time “velocity
hills” as well. On the other hand, it is true that literature is scarce regarding both internal heat generation and radiation
effects upon this problem. Therefore, Figure 5 shows interesting new trends concerning the effect of thermal radiation on
𝜃(𝜂) and 𝜃′ (𝜂). Figure 5 depicts temperature and temperature gradient profiles for two values of the surface temperature
parameter 𝑘 with and without thermal radiation for the case of injection (i.e., 𝑓 (0) < 0) when the heat generation is
present at 𝑁𝑅 = 1. At 𝑘 = 0 and without radiation, internal heat generation and blowing produce a temperature over-
shoot (i.e.,𝜃 > 1 and 𝜃′ (0) > 0, the heat flows from the convective fluid to the wall (reversed heat flow)) near the wall.
By considering radiation the overshoot is reduced and, a diminution in temperature occurs near the sheet; however, this
trend changes far away from the edge where the thermal boundary layer is thicker. This commented effect diminishes by
increasing 𝑘 (see Fig. 5). On the other hand, by comparing Figure 5 and Figure 6, one can see the influence of the internal
heat generation graphically. Realize that both Figures 5-6 are plotted at 𝑁𝑅 = 1 and 𝑓𝑤 = 0.1, but Figure 6 reports the
case with no heat generation. Figure 7 plots temperature and temperature gradient profiles for two values of the radiation
parameter 𝑁𝑅 with and without internal heat generation at 𝑘 = 1/5 in the presence of suction. The effect of the inclusion
of internal heat generation is to increase the temperature distribution. This effect becomes slightly more relevant when 𝑁𝑅
becomes larger. It is further obvious from Figure 7 that the effect of increasing values of 𝑁𝑅 is to decrease the temperature
distribution in the flow region; however, the latter is reversed near the wall when the internal heat generation is present.

4 Discussions and conclusions

This paper analyzes momentum and heat transfer with heat generation in a steady free convection flow over a vertical,
permeable and semi-infinite flat plate of variable temperature which is embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium at the
ambient temperature 𝑇∞ . Numerical solutions for momentum and heat transfer are obtained by employing a shooting 4𝑡ℎ
order Runge-Kutta algorithm. Influences of thermal radiation, internal heat generation, suction, blowing and impermeable
surface were examined. From our numerical results the following conclusions may be drawn:
1. The dimensionless stream function 𝑓 , its derivatives, the velocity components 𝑢, 𝑣, and the similar entrainment
velocity 𝑓∞ are affected with the surface temperature parameter 𝑘. As shown, both 𝑓 and 𝑓 ′ decrease with an increase in
𝑘. However, the effect of 𝑘 on −𝑓 ′′ (0) is quite the opposite.
2. The combined effect of increasing values of 𝑘 and 𝑁𝑅 is to decrease the magnitude of the similar entrainment ve-
locity 𝑓∞ . Further, a stronger blowing provides an entrainment velocity 𝑓∞ lower, whereas a stronger suction determines
an entrainment velocity 𝑓∞ larger.
3. When the internal heat generation is absent, the increase of the parameter 𝑘 leads to the decrease of dimensionless
surface temperature in all the cases of suction, blowing and impermeability of the surface, resulting in a decrease of the
thermal boundary layer thickness.
4. The influence of suction is to decrease the temperature with its increases whereas the effect of injection is to increase
this temperature distribution in the flow region for both cases, with and without internal heat generation.
5. The effect of the inclusion of heat generation is to increase the temperature distribution in the flow region and when
blowing exists, might reverse the direction of heat transfer to the wall.
6. In general, the presence of the thermal radiation term in the energy equation yields an augment in the fluid’s
temperature; however, this trend changes near the wall when heat generation is present. Further, an augment in the
radiation parameter 𝑁𝑅 yields a diminution in the fluid’s temperature.

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