Finite element analysis of heat and mass transfer of an unsteady MHD natural convection flow of a rotating fluid past a vertical porous plate in the presence of radiative heat transfer

The numerical solution of unsteady hydro-magnetic natural convection heat and mass transfer flow of a rotating, incompressible, viscous Boussinesq fluid is presented in this study in the presence of radiative heat transfer and a first order chemical reaction between the fluid and diffusing species. The Rosseland approximation for an optically thick fluid is invoked to describe the radiative flux. The solutions for velocity, temperature and concentration fields have been obtained by using Ritz finite element method. The results obtained are discussed for Grashof number(Gr > 0) corresponding to cooling of the plate and (Gr < 0) corresponding to heating of the plate for various parameters such as Pr, Sc, M, N, K, Gr, Gc and t with the help of graphs and tables. The numerical values of skin-friction coefficient entered in the tables. Results obtained show that a decrease in the temperature boundary layer occurs when the Prandtl number and the radiation parameter are increased and the flow velocity approaches steady state as the time parameter t, is increased. These findings are in quantitative agreement with earlier reported studies. (author)