THE EFFECT OF THERMAL RADIATION ON THE HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER FLOW OF A VARIABLE VISCOSITY FLUID PAST A VERTICAL POROUS PLATE PERMEATED BY A TRANSVERSE MAGNETIC FIELD

The effect of temperature-dependent viscosity on free convective flow past a vertical porous plate is studied in the presence of a magnetic field, thermal radiation, and a first-order homogeneous chemical reaction. Boundary layer equations are derived and the resulting approximate nonlinear ordinary differential equations are solved numerically by the shooting method. A parametric study of all parameters involved is conducted, and a representative set of numerical results for the velocity and temperature profiles as well as the skin-friction parameter and the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers is illustrated graphically to show typical trends of the solutions. The dynamic viscosity in this study is taken as a function of the temperature although the Prandtl number is considered constant.