article · Physica Scripta
This study investigates thermo-solutal Marangoni convection in a Powell-Eyring nanofluid containing gyrotactic microorganisms within a triply stratified medium. The mathematical model incorporates external flow, transverse magnetic fields, Arrhenius activation energy, thermal radiation, and binary chemical reactions. Governing partial differential equations are converted into ordinary differential equations via similarity transformations and solved numerically using the Runge-Kutta Fehlberg method. The results demonstrate that Marangoni convection accelerates mass transfer while delaying both heat transfer and the density gradient of microorganisms. Furthermore, the presence of the Powell-Eyring nanofluid enhances heat and mass transport under Marangoni convection and substantially reduces entropy generation and the Bejan number. In contrast, higher values of the Marangoni ratio parameter increase system entropy generation.
Managing heat, solute, and microorganism movement is vital in industries that rely on fluid suspensions. By quantifying how fluid rheology, surface tension gradients, and magnetic fields influence energy loss and transport rates, this research helps clarify the mechanisms needed to optimize fluid flow and reduce energy waste in biological and chemical operations.
The findings are early-stage theoretical and numerical insights applicable to process design in biotechnology, food processing, and oil refining. Engineers and fluid system designers could use these models to better control transport mechanisms and minimize irreversibilities in complex fluids. However, because the study is purely computational, physical experimental validation and practical prototyping are required before any commercial adoption.
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Abstract Due to the growing importance of bioconvection phenomena in diverse industrial processes such as oil refining, biotechnology, and food processing, it is essential to examine several effects like a chemical reaction, stratification, Marangoni convection, etc in nanofluid suspensions in the context of transport of microorganisms. The outcome of such studies may provide significant insight into controlling and as well as manipulating the transport of energy, solute, and microorganisms for achieving the requisite target. The aim of our study is to investigate the thermo-solutal Marangoni convection of gyrotactic microorganisms suspended in Powell-Eyring nanofluid in a stratified medium. This analysis also takes into account the effects of external flow and transverse magnetic field. The impact of Arrhenius activation energy, thermal radiation, and binary chemical reactions on bioconvection flow is considered under stratified Marangoni convection. Under appropriate assumptions without violating the physics, the present problem is expressed in terms of nonlinear PDEs. Some capable similarity transformations are employed to convert the PDEs into ODEs and solved numerically by the Runge-Kutta Fehlberg method. The graphical illustrations depict the effects of relevant flow parameters on temperature, nanoparticle volume fraction, and density distributions of motile microorganisms. The study focuses on understanding the variations in significant engineering quantities resulting from changes in crucial effects and analyzing irreversibilities. It is noticed that Marangoni accelerates the mass transfer process while on the other hand delaying the heat transfer and microorganisms density gradient. The dominance of Powell-Eyring nanofluid on the heat and mass transport amplified in accompanying Marangoni convection. The results indicate that the Eyring-Powell fluid significantly reduces entropy generation and the Bejan number. Conversely, an increase in entropy generation is observed for the Marangoni ratio parameter. Hence, this work provides insight into interlinked flow in bioconvective systems, with potential diverse applications in microbiological processes.
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DOI: 10.1088/1402-4896/ad36f3
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