Exploration of Thermophoresis and Brownian motion effect on the bio-convective flow of Newtonian fluid conveying tiny particles: Aspects of multi-layer model

Abstract

This research deals with the analysis of bioconvection caused by the movement of gyrotactic microorganisms. The multi-layer immiscible Newtonian fluid flowing through the vertical channel conveying tiny particles is accounted. The immiscible fluids are arranged in the form of a sandwich where the middle layer has a different base fluid that does not mix with the base fluid of the adjacent fluid layer. This separation of the fluid layers gives rise to the interface boundary conditions. Such flows have found applications in electronic cooling and solar reactors processes. Buongiorno’s model has been incorporated to design the mathematical model that describes the three-layer flows of Newtonian fluid conveying tiny (metal/oxide) particles under thermophoretic force and Brownian motion. The model thus formed is in the form of the ordinary differential system of equations that are solved using the DTM-Pade approximant after non-dimensionalization. The limited results have an excellent comparison with the existing literature results. The results are discussed through graphs and tables. It is seen that thermophoresis enhances the temperature and particle concentration of the fluid whereas, the Brownian motion is found to enhance the temperature and decrease the concentration. The presence of bioconvection helps in achieving enhanced energy and mass transportation. Moreover, the heat transfer occurring between the different base fluids helps to maintain the optimum temperature in the systems.