Thermodynamic analysis of Riga plate effect on nanofluid flow in porous medium with nonlinearly varying permeability

A comprehensive study of a copper-water nanofluid flowing through a porous medium embedded in an inclined channel is presented in the current article. The permeability of the porous medium is assumed to vary exponentially across the width of the channel. Navier slip at the channel walls is taken into account while the walls are also convectively heated, albeit asymmetrically. The lower wall of the channel is assumed to be made of a Riga plate, a new type of electromagnetic plate made of electrodes and magnets, inducing a plate parallel Lorentz force. Appropriate transformations are applied to the governing equations such that they are non-dimensionalised. The obtained equations are then solved using the homotopy analysis method. For a reduced form of the governing equations, analytical solutions are obtained which are similar to previously presented results. Graphical presentations are discussed for various flow parameters. The impact of the classical Hartman number on the flow is seen to be very significant and can play a pivotal role in reduction of entropy and skin friction. The flow scheme presented in the present article is presented for the first time in literature.