Finite element analysis of rotating oscillatory magneto-convective radiative micropolar thermo-solutal flow

Micropolar fluids provide an alternative mechanism for simulating micro-scale and molecular fluid mechanics which require less computational effort. In the present paper, a numerical analysis is conducted for the primary and secondary flow characterizing dissipative micropolar convective heat and mass transfer from a rotating vertical plate with oscillatory plate velocity, adjacent to a permeable medium. Owing to high temperature, thermal radiation effects are also studied. The micropolar fluid is also chemically-reacting, both thermal and species (concentration) buoyancy effects and heat source/sink are included. The entire system rotates with uniform angular velocity about an axis normal to the plate. Rosseland’s diffusion approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation. The partial differential equations governing the flow problem are rendered dimensionless with appropriate transformation variables. A Galerkin finite element method is employed to solve the emerging multi-physical components of fluid dynamics problem are examined for a variety of parameters including rotation parameter, radiation-conduction parameter, micropolar coupling parameter, Eckert number (dissipation), reaction parameter, magnetic body force parameter and Schmidt number. A comparison with previously published article is made to check the validity and accuracy of the present finite element solutions under some limiting case and excellent agreement is attained. The current simulations may be applicable to various chemical engineering systems, oscillating rheometry, and rotating MHD energy generator near-wall flows

Rotating unsteady multi-physico-chemical magneto-micropolar transport in porous media : Galerkin finite element study

In this paper, a mathematical model is developed for magnetohydrodynamic (MHD), incompressible, dissipative and chemically reacting micropolar fluid flow, heat and mass transfer through a porous medium from a vertical plate with Hall current, Soret and Dufour effects. The entire system rotates with uniform angular velocity about an axis normal to the plate. Rosseland’s diffusion approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation. The governing partial differential equations for momentum, heat, angular momentum and species conservation are transformed into dimensionless form under the assumption of low Reynolds number with appropriate dimensionless quantities. The emerging boundary value problem is then solved numerically with a Galerkin finite element method employing the weighted residual approach. The evolution of translational velocity, micro-rotation (angular velocity), temperature and concentration are studied in detail. The influence of many multi-physical parameters in these variables is illustrated graphically. Finally, the friction factor, surface heat transfer and mass transfer rate dependency on the emerging thermo-physical parameters are also tabulated. The finite element code is benchmarked with the results reported in the literature to check the validity and accuracy under some limiting cases and an excellent agreement with published solutions is achieved. The study is relevant to rotating MHD energy generators utilizing non-Newtonian working fluids and also magnetic rheo-dynamic materials processing systems

Changes in chemical properties of an Ultisol as affected by palm oil mill effluent application

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of palm oil mill effluent (POME) application on soil chemical properties. The POME was incorporated into the top 0-30 cm of Batang Merbau soil, an Ultisol. POME was applied at 0, 5, 10, 20, and 40 t ha-1, both in the presence and absence of 2 t ground magnesian limestone (GML). A succeeding crops of maize and groundnut were planted. The results of the experiment showed that POME application up to the rate of 40 t ha-1 did not significantly change the topsoil pH and exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and aluminum (Al). The addition of POME improved the soil fertility, which resulted in an increase of maize yield. The Ca and Mg from the POME accumulated in the topsoil, being held by the negative charge present on the exchange complex. The beneficial effects of POME and/or GML application lasted for about 3 years. The study indicated that application of POME together with GML is a good agronomic option to alleviate soil acidity in Ultisol for maize production

Experimental study of improved rheology and lubricity of drilling fluids enhanced with nano-particles

An experimental study of the rheology and lubricity properties of a drilling fluid is reported, motivated by applications in highly deviated and extended reach wells. Recent developments in nanofluids have identified that the judicious injection of nano-particles into working drilling fluids may resolve a number of issues including borehole instability, lost circulation, torque and drag, pipe sticking problems, bit balling and reduction in drilling speed. The aim of this article is therefore to evaluate the rheological characteristics and lubricity of different nanoparticles in water-based mud, with the potential to reduce costs via a decrease in drag and torque during the construction of highly deviated and ERD wells. Extensive results are presented for percentage in torque variation and coefficient of friction before and after aging. Rheology is evaluated via apparent viscosity, plastic viscosity and gel strength variation before and after aging for water-based muds (WBM). Results are included for silica and titanium nanoparticles at different concentrations. These properties were measured before and after aging the mud samples at 80°C during 16 hours at static conditions. The best performance was shown with titanium nanoparticles at a concentration of 0.60 % (w/w) before aging

Numerical simulation of time-dependent non-Newtonian nano-pharmacodynamic transport phenomena in a tapered overlapping stenosed artery

Nanofluids are becoming increasingly popular in novel hematological treatments and also advanced nanoscale biomedical devices. Motivated by recent developments in this area, a theoretical and numerical study is described for unsteady pulsatile flow, heat and mass transport through a tapered stenosed artery in the presence of nanoparticles. An appropriate geometric expression is employed to simulate the overlapping stenosed arterial segment. The Sisko non-Newtonian model is employed for hemodynamic rheology. Buongiorno’s formulation is employed to model nanoscale effects. The two-dimensional non-linear, coupled equations are simplified for the case of mild stenosis. An explicit forward time central space (FTCS) finite difference scheme is employed to obtain a numerical solution of these equations. Validation of the computations is achieved with another numerical method, namely the variational finite element method (FEM). The effects of various emerging rheological, nanoscale and thermofluid parameters on flow and heat/mass characteristics of blood are shown via several plots and discussed in detail. The circulating regions inside the flow field are also investigated through instantaneous patterns of streamlines. The work is relevant to nanopharmacological transport phenomena, a new and exciting area of modern medical fluid dynamics which integrates coupled diffusion, viscous flow and nanoscale drug delivery mechanisms

Numerical study of self-similar natural convection mass transfer from a rotating cone in anisotropic porous media with Stefan blowing and Navier slip

A mathematical model is presented for laminar, steady natural convection mass transfer in boundary layer flow from a rotating porous vertical cone in anisotropic high permeability porous media. The transformed boundary value problem is solved subject to prescribed surface and free stream boundary conditions with a MAPLE 17 shooting method. Validation with a Chebyshev spectral collocation method is included. The influence of tangential Darcy number, swirl Darcy number, Schmidt number, rotational parameter, momentum (velocity slip), mass slip and wall mass flux (transpiration) on the velocity and concentration distributions is evaluated in detail. The computations show that tangential and swirl velocities are enhanced generally with increasing permeability functions (i.e. Darcy parameters). Increasing spin velocity of the cone accelerates the tangential flow whereas it retards the swirl flow. An elevation in wall suction depresses both tangential and swirl flow. However, increasing injection generates acceleration in the tangential and swirl flow. With greater momentum (hydrodynamic) slip, both tangential and swirl flows are accelerated. Concentration values and Sherwood number function values are also enhanced with momentum slip, although this is only achieved for the case of wall injection. A substantial suppression in tangential velocity is induced with higher mass (solutal) slip effect for any value of injection parameter. Concentration is also depressed at the wall (cone surface) with an increase in mass slip parameter, irrespective of whether injection or suction is present. The model is relevant to spin coating operations in filtration media (in which swirling boundary layers can be controlled with porous media to deposit thin films on industrial components), flow control of mixing devices in distillation processes and also chromatographical analysis systems

Temporal changes in chemical properties of acid soil profiles treated with magnesium limestone and gypsum

Effects of ground magnesium limestone (GML) and gypsum on the properties of Ultisols at two sites, involving a corn groundnut rotation, were studied over 24 months. GML or gypsum was incorporated into the soils of the Bungor and Rengam Series (Typic Paleudults), at the rates of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.01 ha to depths of 15 cm (GML and gypsum) and 30 cm (GML). Increases in soil pH and exchangeable Ca and Mg arising from GML application were confined mainly to the zone of incorporation. However, there was a decrease of exchangeable Al at deeper depths. After 15 months, there was a tendency for the pH and exchangeable Ca and Mg on the zone of incorporation to decrease and for the exchangeable Al to increase, effects being the least at the high rates of GML application. There was no significant change in pH or exchangeable Al as a result of gypsum application, but there were increases in exchangeable Ca and extractable SO in both the zone of incorporation and the subsoil. With time, the exchangeable Ca and extractable S0 in the sub-soils were found to increase, but their concentration in the zone of incorporation decreased. The pH of the soil solution of the control treatment was about 4.0, while Al and Mn concentrations were 150 and 50 μM, respectively. At the GML rate of 2.01 ha or less, Al in the soil solution was found to exist in the inorganic monomelic form. Meanwhile, the GML application at the rates > 4 t ha could have resulted in complexation of some of Al. In particular, Al was the dominant Al species at low pH and liming resulted in a decrease of Al species and increase of hydroxyl-Al monomers. GML needed to raise the pH of the soil solution to about 5 was 2.0 t ha; this consequently decreased Al and Mn concentrations to a low level. The application of gypsum resulted in a decrease and an increase of Al and A1SO activities, respectively

Impact of subsurface terric materials on the composition and behavior of histosols

Approximately 13% of the land area of Sarawak , Malaysia is covered by Histosols. Recent land and agricultural policies encourage utilization of Histosols for agricultural purposes to meet the national food requirements. Increasing stress on this ecosystem requires a better understanding of the resource and its behavior. Mineral terric substrata are common in many Histosols. A transect of 50 m at Kota Samarahan (Sarawak) was selected for this study to evaluate the impact of terric materials on the properties of the overlying organic tier. Six basic forms of subsurface discontinuities were recognized: symmetrical dome, asymmetrical dome, flat top, flat base, orthogonal and irregular. The degree of horizonation was different in all the soils. The pH of the soils was quite similar. All soils had net negative charges that increased with depth, however, the actual amounts of net charges varied between the soils. The soils had negligible amounts of exchangeable cations. The fiber contents, cation exchange capacities, FTIR spectra and Cue' adsorption studies showed critical differences. Despite the fact that these soils are mapped as one mapping unit, major differences in critical properties are expected to influence the behavior and performance. Variations in subsurface discontinuities cast some doubt on the reliability of conventional mapping techniques in such soils. The information generated is very useful to improve soil survey procedures and the subsequent use and management of these soils