Mixed convection flow of non-Newtonian fluid from vertical surface saturated in a porous medium filled with a nanofluid

The problem of steady, laminar, mixed convection flow of a non-Newtonian fluid past a preamble vertical flat plate embedded in a porous medium saturated with a nanofluid is considered. A mixed convection parameter for the entire range of free-forced-mixed convection is employed and a set of non-similar equations are obtained. These equations are solved numerically by an efficient implicit, iterative, finite-difference method. The obtained results are checked against previously published work for special cases of the problem and are found to be in good agreement. A parametric study illustrating the influence of the various physical parameters on the velocity, temperature and nano-particle volume fraction profiles as well as the local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers is conducted. The obtained results are illustrated graphically and the physical aspects of the problem are discussed.