Finite Difference Method to Evaluate the Characteristics of Optically Dense Gray Nanofluid Heat Transfer around the Surface of a Sphere and in the Plume Region

Abstract

The current research study is focusing on the investigation of the physical effects of thermal radiation on heat and mass transfer of a nanofluid located around a sphere. The configuration is investigated by solving the partial differential equations governing the phenomenon. By using suitable non-dimensional variables, the governing set of partial differential equations is transformed into a dimensionless form. For numerical simulation, the attained set of dimensionless partial differential equations is discretized by using the finite difference method. The effects of the governing parameters, such as the Brownian motion parameter, the thermophoresis parameter, the radiation parameter, the Prandtl number, and the Schmidt number on the velocity field, temperature distribution, and mass concentration, are presented graphically. Moreover, the impacts of these physical parameters on the skin friction coefficient, the Nusselt number, and the Sherwood number are displayed in the form of tables. Numerical outcomes reflect that the effects of the radiation parameter, thermophoresis parameter, and the Brownian motion parameter intensify the profiles of velocity, temperature, and concentration at different circumferential positions on the sphere.