Bioconvection in Casson nanofluid flow with Gyrotactic microorganisms and variable surface heat flux

Abstract

This paper presents a two-dimensional unsteady laminar boundary layer mixed convection flow heat and mass transfer along a vertical plate filled with Casson nanofluid located in a porous quiescent medium that contains both nanoparticles and gyrotactic microorganisms. This permeable vertical plate is assumed to be moving in the same direction as the free stream velocity. The flow is subject to a variable heat flux, a zero nanoparticle flux and a constant density of motile microorganisms on the surface. The free stream velocity is time-dependent resulting in a non-similar solution. The transport equations are solved using the bivariate spectral quasilinearization method. A grid independence test for the validity of the result is given. The significance of the inclusion of motile microorganisms to heat transfer processes is discussed. We show, inter alia, that introducing motile microorganisms into the flow reduces the skin friction coefficient and that the random motion of the nanoparticles improves the rate of transfer of the motile microorganisms.