Solutal Dispersion and Viscous Dissipation Effects on Non‐Darcy Free Convection Over a Cone in Power‐Law Fluids

The effects of viscous dissipation and solutal dispersion on free convection about an isothermal vertical cone with a fixed apex half angle, pointing downwards in a power‐law fluid‐saturated non‐Darcy porous medium are analyzed. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into partial differential equations using non‐similarity transformation. The resulting equations are solved numerically using an accurate local non‐similarity method. The accuracy of the numerical results is validated by a quantitative comparison of the heat and mass transfer rates with previously published results for a special case and the results are found to be in good agreement. The effects of viscous dissipation, solutal dispersion, and/or buoyancy ratio on the velocity, temperature, and concentration field as well as on the heat and mass transfer rates are illustrated, by insisting on the comparison between pseudo‐plastic, dilatant, and Newtonian fluids. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 43(5): 476–488, 2014; Published online 11 November 2013 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.21095