International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow

Two-phase natural convection flow of a dusty fluid

Sadia Siddiqa M. Anwar Hossain Suvash C Saha
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Sadia Siddiqa M. Anwar Hossain Suvash C Saha , (2015),"Two-phase natural convection flow of a
dusty fluid", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 25 Iss 7 pp. 1542 -
1556
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HFF
25,7
Two-phase natural convection
flow of a dusty fluid
Sadia Siddiqa
1542 Department of Mathematics,
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Attock, Pakistan
Received 13 September 2014 M. Anwar Hossain
Revised 8 October 2014 University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and
Accepted 11 October 2014
Suvash C. Saha
School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering,
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
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Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conduct a detailed investigation of the two-dimensional
natural convection flow of a dusty fluid. Therefore, the incompressible boundary layer flow of a
two-phase particulate suspension is investigated numerically over a semi-infinite vertical flat plate.
Comprehensive flow formations of the gas and particle phases are given in the boundary layer
region. Primitive variable formulation is employed to convert the nondimensional governing
equations into the non-conserved form. Three important two-phase mechanisms are discussed,
namely, water-metal mixture, oil-metal mixture and air-metal mixture.
Design/methodology/approach – The full coupled nonlinear system of equations is solved using
implicit two point finite difference method along the whole length of the plate.
Findings – The authors have presented numerical solution of the dusty boundary layer problem.
Solutions obtained are depicted through the characteristic quantities, such as, wall shear stress
coefficient, wall heat transfer coefficient, velocity distribution and temperature distribution for both
phases. Results are interpreted for wide range of Prandtl number Pr (0.005-1,000.0). It is observed that
thin boundary layer structures can be formed when mass concentration parameter or Prandtl number
(e.g. oil-metal particle mixture) are high.
Originality/value – The results of the study may be of some interest to the researchers of the field
of chemical engineers.
Keywords Natural convection, Boundary layer, Dusty gas, Two-phase, Dusty fluid,
Particulate suspension
Paper type Research paper

Nomenclature
Cf local skin friction coefficient Fbp body force on particle phase
cp specific heat of the fluid at per unit volume
constant pressure Fp fluid particle interaction force
cs specific heat of the particle per unit volume
phase at constant pressure g acceleration due to gravity
dp work done by the particle Gr Grashof number
phase per unit volume L characteristic length
International Journal of Numerical
Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow
Dρ mass concentration of the m mass of each particle
Vol. 25 No. 7, 2015 particle phase n power index
pp. 1542-1556
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited Fb body force on fluid per unit N number density of the particle
0961-5539
DOI 10.1108/HFF-09-2014-0278 volume Nu local Nusselt number coefficient
 p dimensional pressure of fluid Up , Vp dimensionless velocity Convection
pp dimensional pressure of dusty components of particle phase in flow of a
phase the (X, Y) directions,
Pr gas Prandtl number respectively
dusty fluid
qf rate of heat flux of the fluid x, y dimensional Cartesian
qs rate of heat flux of the coordinates
particle phase X, Y dimensionless Cartesian 1543
Qp thermal interaction force coordinates
per unit volume Greek letters
rp radius of the particle κ thermal conductivity of
T temperature of the fluid the fluid
T dimensionless temperature αd L2/ντmGr1/2
of the fluid β volumetric coefficient
Tp temperature of the of thermal expansion
μ
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dusty phase coefficient of viscosity of fluid

Tp dimensionless temperature
of the dusty phase
Tw temperature at the surface
T∞ temperature of the
ambient fluid
ΔT temperature difference
u ¼ (u, v) dimensional velocity
components of fluid in the
(x, y) directions, respectively
up ¼ (up, vp) dimensional velocity
components of particle phase
in the (x, y) directions,
respectively
U, V dimensionless velocity
components of fluid in the
(X, Y) directions, respectively
ν kinematic viscosity of the fluid
γ ratio of cp and cs
τm relaxation time or velocity
relaxation time of the particles
τT thermal relaxation time of the
particles
ρ density of the fluid
ρp density of the particle
phase
Subscripts
w wall condition
∞ ambient condition
p particle phase
ij value at (i, j) cell

1. Introduction
Engineering and technical fields contain many applications of flow of gas-particle
mixture. For instance, solid rocket exhaust nozzles, nuclear reactors with gas-solid
feeds, ablation cooling, blast waves moving over the Earth’s surface, conveying of
powdered materials, fluidized beds, environmental pollutants, petroleum industry,
purification of crude oil, physiological flows and other technological fields (see
Rudinger, 1980) are some of the practical problems where the dusty viscous flow found
its applications. Other important applications involving dust particles in boundary
layers include soil salvation by natural winds, lunar surface erosion by the exhaust of a
landing vehicle and dust entrainment in a cloud formed during a nuclear explosion.
Kazakevich and Krapivin experimentally investigated the aerodynamic resistance
in tube assemblies when the flow of a gas is dust laden. For this phenomenon, Saffman
(1962) suggested the model for theoretical investigation and formulated the basic
equations for the flow of dusty fluid. Since then many researchers have discussed the
problem related to dusty fluid. Marble (1962, 1963) studied the problem of dynamic of a
gas containing small solid particles. It was shown that for gas-particle flow systems,
 HFF the particle clouds are governed by four similarity parameters each of which has a
25,7 simple physical significance.
Michael and Miller (1966) reported the solutions for two problems regarding the
motion of the dusty gas. They used the formulation derived (Saffman, 1962) and
assumed that the gas contains a uniform distribution of dust particles. In their analysis,
motion induced in the dusty gas was considered in the two cases when the plane moves
1544 parallel to itself: in simple harmonic motion; and impulsively from rest with uniform
velocity. The effect on the steady flow past a sphere of a uniform upstream distribution
of dust particles having a small relaxation time was studied by Michael (1968). This
paper concluded with a discussion on the effect of a viscous boundary layer in which it
was suggested that the dust-free layer can be preserved when σR1/2 ≫ 1 (where σ and R
are respectively Stokes number and Reynolds number) while on the other hand it
can be prevented from forming by the viscous boundary layer when σR1/2 ≪ 1. Singh
and Ram (1977) presented the unsteady two-dimensional laminar flow of an electrically
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conducting dusty viscous liquid through a channel in the presence of a transverse

magnetic field and obtained the solutions analytically through Laplace transform.
Soundalgekar and Gokhale (1984) studied the flow of a dusty gas past an impulsively
started infinite vertical plate by employing an implicit finite difference technique.
It was found that the results obtained by Soundalgekar and Gokhale (1984) agrees well
with exact solution derived by the Laplace transform technique. The combined effect
of dustiness and pressure gradient on the friction and heat transfer coefficients in a
dusty boundary layer was discussed by Agranat (1988). Agranat (1988) obtained
approximate analytic expressions for the local friction and heat transfer coefficients
and tested them in the case of an incompressible carrier phase.
An explicit finite-difference solution of flow of a dusty gas past a uniformly
accelerated horizontal plate in a viscous incompressible gas was presented by Das et al.
(1992). Gas-velocity, dust-velocity and the skin friction were shown graphically by Das
et al. (1992). The review of state of the art in the mathematical modeling of dusty gas
laminar boundary layers in the framework of the two-fluid approach was discussed by
Osiptsov (1997). Main attention is paid to the strict formulation of the two-phase
boundary layer approximation, using the matched asymptotic expansion method.
Unsteady natural convection flow of a dusty fluid in an infinite rectangular channel
was investigated by Dalal et al. (1998). They concluded that time to reach steady state
increases with the increase of mass concentration. Ramadan and Chamkha (1999)
reported some analytical and numerical results for the two-phase free convection flow
over an infinite permeable inclined plate with non-uniform particle-phase density.
Ganesan and Palani (2004) studied numerical solution of unsteady free convection flow
of a dusty gas past a semi-infinite inclined plate with constant heat flux using an
implicit finite difference method. Further, the effects of heat transfer on the flow of
dusty gas past a semi-infinite isothermal inclined plate has been studied by Palani and
Ganesan (2007). They solved the nondimensional governing equations numerically by
using an implicit finite difference scheme of Crank-Nicolson method. Recently, Ramesh
et al. (2012) considered MHD effects on dusty boundary layer flow over an inclined
stretching sheet with non-uniform heat source/sink. They transformed the governing
equations into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations by applying
similarity transformation which was solved numerically by RKF45 using Maple.
A more recent analysis of convective dusty flow past a vertical stretching sheet with
internal heat absorption was given by Nandkeolyar and Sibanda (2013). They also
reduced the boundary layer equations into a set of similar equations and solved them
 by bvp4c routine of Matlab. Further, Anwar Bég et al. (2014) conducted a numerical Convection
study of single and two phase models in a circular tube and reported that single-phase flow of a
and two-phase models yield the same results for fluid flow but different results
for thermal fields. Another study regarding single and two-phase models of nanofluid
dusty fluid
heat transfer in wavy channel was done by Rashidi et al. (2014) and investigated the
behavior of heat transfer coefficient, temperature and velocity distributions.
Due to the consequences of dusty flows in various technological fields, it is aimed 1545
in the present paper to investigate the effect of dusty fluid on the natural convection
flow due to heated vertical surface. Coordinate transformation (primitive variable
formulation) is employed to transform the two-phase boundary layer model into a
convenient form. Since these equations are coupled and nonlinear therefore solutions
are obtained numerically by applying two point implicit finite difference method.
The algebraic equations obtained through a finite difference procedure are solved
by employing Thomas algorithm. Numerical results of the two-phase problem are
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displayed in the form of wall shear stress, heat transfer rate, velocity and temperature
distributions by varying several determining parameters.

2. Formulation of the problem

In the present analysis, dusty fluid is considered which is originally at rest along a
semi-infinite heated vertical solid surface. Initially, the system is having a uniform
temperature T∞. Suddenly, the wall y ¼ 0 is heated to a temperature T + ΔT and
natural convection starts due to this. It is assumed that x-axis is along the solid surface,
whereas y-axis is in the direction normal to the surface as shown in Figure 1.
The governing boundary layer equations for the two-dimensional incompressible
flow of dusty fluid as given by Saffman (1962) are:

r:u ¼ 0 (1)

x
Interface

T∞

δm g

δt
Tw

Figure 1.
Schematic of
y the problem
O
  
HFF @u
r þ ðu:rÞu ¼ rp þ rðmr:uÞ þ Fp þ Fb (2)
25,7 @t
 
@T
rcp þ ðu:rÞT ¼ rðkr:TÞþ qf þ Qp þ dp (3)
@t
1546
r:up ¼ 0 (4)
 
@up

r þ up :r up ¼ rpp þ Fp þ Fbp (5)
@t
 
@T p
rcs þ ðu:rÞT p ¼ qs Qp (6)
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@t

In the above system of equations u ¼ (u, v), T, p, Fb, ρ, cp, μ and qf are respectively the
velocity vector, temperature, pressure, body force, density, specific heat at constant
pressure, coefficient of viscosity and heat flux of the fluid. Similarly, up ¼ (up, vp), Tp, pp,
Fbp, cs and qs corresponds to the velocity vector, temperature, pressure, body force,
specific heat and heat flux for the particle phase.
In Equations (2) and (5), parameter Fp represents the total fluid-particle interaction
force per unit volume. If the Reynolds number based on the relative velocity of a
particle is less than unity, then the force accelerating the particle to the fluid speed
is given by Stokes law which is 6πrpμ (up−u), where rp is the radius of the particle.
If N is assumed to be the number density of particles, the total interaction force per unit
volume is given by (see Saffman, 1962; Marble, 1962/1963):



Fp ¼ 6pN mr p up u ¼ rp up u =tm (7)
where ρp is the density of the particles. τm ¼ m/6πμrp is called relaxation time during
which the velocity of the particle phase relative to the fluid is reduced to 1/e times
its initial value provided m is the mass of each particle. Similarly, the total
thermal interaction between the fluid and particle phase per unit volume is given
by (see Saffman, 1962; Marble, 1963):


Qp ¼ rp cs T p T =tT (8)
and τT ¼ mcs/4πrp is the thermal relaxation time of particle phase, i.e. time τT,
the temperature of the particle phase relative to the fluid is 1/e times the initial value.
The rate of work done by the particles due to the force of interaction with the fluid is
(see Saffman, 1962; Marble, 1963):


d p ¼ up u :Fp (9)
In the present study, following assumptions have been made for dilute suspensions:
(1) The solid particles are rigid spheres of uniform size. The number density N of
particles is constant. However, the particles are also sufficiently diluted to
consider them as non-interacting.
 (2) The volume fraction of solid particles has been neglected. This implies that the Convection
coefficient of viscosity for the gas-particle mixture can be taken as the viscosity flow of a
of the gas phase alone.
dusty fluid
(3) It is further considered that radiative heat transfer between any two particles,
chemical reaction, coagulation and phase change in the two-phase system are
not present. The only source which couple the particles to the gas are processes
of drag and heat transfer. 1547
(4) Steady-state two-phase flow is considered.
(5) All the external forces are neglected except gravitational force.
In the light of the above assumptions, the usual boundary layer equations mentioned in
Equations (1)-(8) for the two-phase model can be written in the component form as:
For the gas phase:
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@u @v
þ ¼0 (10)
@x @y
 
@u @u @2 u rp

r u þv ¼ m 2 þ rgbðTT 1 Þþ up u (11)
@x @y @y tm

 
@T @T @2 T rp cs

rcp u þ v ¼k 2þ T p T (12)
@x @y @y tT

For the particle phase:

@up @vp
þ ¼0 (13)
@x @y
 
@up @up rp

rp u p þ vp ¼  up u (14)
@x @y tm

 
@T p @T p r p cs

rp cs up þ vp ¼ T p T (15)
@x @y tT

The fundamental equations stated above are to be solved under appropriate boundary
conditions to determine the flow fields of the fluid and the dust particles. Therefore,
boundary conditions for the gas phase are:
uðx; 0Þ ¼ vðx; 0Þ ¼ T ðx; 0ÞT w ¼ 0
(16)
uðx; 1Þ ¼ T ðx; 1ÞT 1 ¼ 0

Boundary conditions for the particle phase are:

up ðx; 0Þ ¼ vp ðx; 0Þ ¼ T p ðx; 0ÞT w ¼ 0

(17)
up ðx; 1Þ ¼ T p ðx; 1ÞT 1 ¼ 0
 HFF Following dependent and independent flow variables are chosen to make the system
25,7 dimensionless:



n

n

T; T p T 1
u; up ¼ Gr 1=2 U ; U p ; v; vp ¼ Gr 1=4 V ; V p ; Y; Yp ¼
L L T w T 1
1548 x y gbDTL3
X ¼ ; Y ¼ Gr 1=4 ; Gr ¼ (18)
L L n2
System of Equations (10)-(17) becomes:

@U @V
þ ¼0 (19)
@X @Y
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@U @U @2 U

U þV ¼ þ YDr ad U U p (20)
@X @Y @Y 2

@Y @Y 1 @2 Y 2

U þV ¼  Dr ad YYp (21)
@X @Y Pr @Y 2 3Pr

@U p @V p
þ ¼0 (22)
@X @Y

@U p @U p

Up þVp ¼ ad U p U (23)
@X @Y

@Yp @Yp 2ad

Up þVp ¼ Yp Y (24)
@X @Y 3gPr

The boundary conditions for the gas phase becomes:

U ðX ; 0Þ ¼ V ðX ; 0Þ ¼ YðX ; 0Þ1 ¼ 0
(25)
U ðX ; 1Þ ¼ YðX ; 1Þ ¼ 0

Similarly, for the particle phase boundary conditions can be written as:

U p ðX ; 0Þ ¼ V p ðX ; 0Þ ¼ Yp ðX ; 0Þ1 ¼ 0
(26)
U p ðX ; 1Þ ¼ Yp ðX ; 1Þ ¼ 0

The interaction terms between the gas and the particles are expressed as follows:
γ ( ¼ cs/cp) is the specific heat ratio of mixture. For different gas-particle
combinations, γ may vary between 0.1 and 10.0, and in such cases, either the
temperature or the velocity tends to reach equilibrium faster (see Rudinger, 1980).
 Dρ ( ¼ ρp/ρ) is mass concentration of particle phase or the ratio of densities of the fluid Convection
and the dust particles. Pr ( ¼ κ/ρcpν) is the gas Prandtl number. τT ¼ 1.5γτmPr is the flow of a
relation between thermal relaxation time (τT) and velocity relaxation time (τm);
indicating that τT is obeying the Stokes law. It should be noted that, for most gases, the
dusty fluid
Prandtl number, Pr is near 2/3 and the specific heat mixture parameter is typically near
one. At this stage temperature and velocity relaxation become almost same. Finally,
αd ¼ L2/ντmGr1/2 is the parameter depending on the relaxation time of the particles and 1549
the buoyancy force. It can be observed that for αd ¼ 0 the flow governs by the natural
convection in the absence of the dusty particles.
Although the solution of the present problem, governed by the set of Equations (19)-(26),
can be obtained by direct numerical simulation, but here for computational convenience
following transformations are introduced:

1þn





V; Vp ¼ X 4 V; Vp ;
1n
U; Up ¼ X 2 U; Up ; Y; Yp ¼ X n Y; Yp
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1n 1n (27)

Y ¼X 4 Y; x ¼ ad X 2

Introducing variables given in Equation (27) into (19)-(26), one gets (after dropping
over bars):
1þn 1n @U 1n @U @V
Uþ x  Y þ ¼0 (28)
2 2 @x 4 @Y @Y

 
1 þ n 2 1n @U 1n @U @2 U

U þ xU þ V YU ¼ þ YDr x U U p (29)
2 2 @x 4 @Y @Y 2

 
1n @Y 1n @Y 1 @2 Y 2

nU Yþ xU þ V YU ¼  Dr x YYp (30)
2 @x 4 @Y Pr @Y 2 3Pr

1þn 1n @U p 1n @U p @V p

Up þ x  Y þ ¼0 (31)
2 2 @x 4 @Y @Y

 
1 þ n 2 1n @U p 1n @U P

Up þ xU p þ V p YUp ¼ x U p U (32)
2 2 @x 4 @Y

 
1n @Yp 1n @Yp 2x

nU p Yp þ xU p þ V p YUp ¼ Yp Y (33)
2 @x 4 @Y 3gPr

The boundary conditions to be satisfied are:

U ðx; 0Þ ¼ V ðx; 0Þ ¼ Yðx; 0Þ1 ¼ U p ðx; 0Þ ¼ V p ðx; 0Þ ¼ Yp ðx; 0Þ1 ¼ 0

(34)
U ðx; 1Þ ¼ U p ðx; 1Þ ¼ Yðx; 0Þ ¼ Yp ðx; 1Þ ¼ 0
 HFF In the above equations, the scaled variable ξ represent the distribution of the parameter
25,7 αd in the axial direction. At any station in the axial direction ξ is zero if αd is zero;
otherwise its value is non-zero.

3. Numerical method
The system of Equations (28)-(34) is integrated numerically by employing the
1550 straightforward finite difference method which uses the Thomas algorithm as a
solver. For this problem domain is discretized over the entire boundary layer region.
Central-difference quotients are used for diffusion terms while backward difference
quotients are employed for the convection terms. The resulting system of algebraic
equations can be cast into a tridiagonal matrix equation of the form:

Ai;j Oi;j þ 1 þ Bi;j Oi;j þ C i;j Oi;j1 ¼ Di;j (35)

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where Ω represent one of the unknown quantity; U, Up, Θ, Θp and the coefficients




Ai, j,
Bi, j, Ci, j, Di,j are entered in


Table I: where P 1 ¼ ð1 þ n=2Þþ 1n=2 x=Dx and
P 2 ¼ n þ ð1n=2Þ x=Dx . Thomas algorithm works on the following pattern:
(1) Set the suitable initial and boundary conditions.
(2) Solve the unknowns U, Up, Θ, Θp at Y ¼ 0. It means that these unknowns satisfy
the convergence criteria.
(3) Solve for the next step Yj ¼ Yj−1 + ΔY by using the solution of the last position.
(4) The computations are iterated until the unknown quantities meet the
convergence
  criteria
 at the streamwise
  position.
 The convergence
  criteria
 is:
maxU i;j  þ maxU pi;j  þ maxV i;j  þ maxV pi;j  þ maxYi;j  þ maxYpi;j  p 105 .
(5) Repeat steps 2-4 for ξ maximum. In the computation, continuity equation is
used to obtain normal velocity component V and Vp by using the following
discretization:

1n
1þn
V i;j ¼ V i1;j þ Y U i;j U i1;j  DY U i;j
4 2

1n xDY

 U i;j U i;j1 þ U i1;j U i1;j1 (36)
2 Dx

Ω Ai, j Bi, j Ci, j Di, j

 
2 U U
U 1 þ DY V i;j 1n
4 Y U i;j
−2−(ΔY) (P1Ui,j+Dρξ)
2 DY
Pr  2
1
V i;j 1n
4 Y U i;j
ðDY Þ Yi;j 1n x i;j i;j1 þDr xU pi;j
 2     U 2U Dx 
Up −ΔY (P1Ui,j+ΔYξ) DY x 1n
p i;j p i;j1
þU i;j
2 V pi;j  4 Y U pi;j 2 V pi;j  4 Y U pi;j
1 1n 1 1n
2 Dx

  1

 
Table I. Θ 2 2 2Dr
Pr 
DY
V i;j 1n
4 Y U i;j ðDY Þ2 x 1n
U i;j Yi;j1 2Dr
Pr ðDY Þ P 2 U i;j þ 3Pr x Dx þ 3Pr Ypi;j
DY
Pr þ 2 V i;j 1n
1
4 Y U i;j
2 2
Coefficients of    U Y 
Equation (35) Θp 1 DY P 2 U i;j þ 3Prg
2  1
Pr DY x 1n
pi;j pi;j1
þ 3Prg
2
Yi;j
Pr 2 Dx
 and: Convection

1n   1þn flow of a
V p i;j ¼ V pi1;j þ Y U pi;j U pi1;j  DY U pi;j dusty fluid
4 2

1n xDY  
 U pi;j U pi;j1 þ U pi1;j U pi1;j1 (37)
2 Dx 1551
respectively. In the cross-streamwise direction (Y), 2001 uniform grid points are
employed. Additionally, there are 500 grid points in the marching direction.
In the program test, a finer axial step size, Δξ ¼ 0.02, is tried and found to give
acceptable accuracy. The computation has been started from ξ ¼ 0.01 and then it
marched up to ξ ¼ 30.0 by taking uniform grids. By comparing the results for different
grid size in Y direction, we reached at the conclusion to choose ΔY ¼ 0.01 and the value
of the edge of the boundary layer Y∞ is 70.0 which actually correspond to the condition
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Y→∞. The truncation error is of first order, i.e., truncation error is proportional to
the step size. Implicit finite difference scheme is unconditionally stable and compatible
and hence ensures convergence.
Knowledge of the drag (which develops due to the fluid flowing along a solid surface)
is important and critical in assessing the performance of the devices. For instance,
information regarding wall property variation provides feedback to the design engineers
leading to improvement in the design of the device itself for increased performance and
efficiency. Thus skin friction is an important and must-have parameter that needs to be
quantified. At this stage, it is possible to obtain above mentioned physical quantities.
These relationships can be calculated from the mathematical expressions given in the
following equation:

 13n    15n  
x 22n
34 @U 14 x
22n
@Y
tw ¼ C f Gr ¼ ; Qw ¼ N uGr ¼ (38)
ad @Y Y ¼0 ad @Y Y ¼0

4. Numerical results and discussion

At this stage finite difference solutions obtained for the natural convection flow
of dusty fluid along a vertical surface has been discussed. Continuum theory is used
to model the two phase phenomena though separate equations of mass, momentum
and energy balance. The solid phase and the carrier phase are coupled via interaction
force between the two phases. The classical Stokes’ drag on the spherical shaped
particles is actually the interaction force between the two phases in the study.
Concentration of the dispersed particles are considered to be dilute enough that the
collisions between the particle become insignificant and the particle flow is exclusively
controlled by the momentum and energy exchange with the continuous carrier phase.
Solutions are given for a wide range of Prandtl number Pr (from 0.005 to 1,000.0).
Variation of wall shear stress, Nusselt number coefficient, velocity profile and
temperature profile are obtained for various values of representative parameters.
Following are some practical examples that helps in considering the orders of
magnitude of the dimensionless numbers which form the coefficients of the momentum
and energy equations (see Apazidis, 1990):
(1) metal particles in gas: Dρ ¼ 104, Pr ¼ 0.7, γ ¼ 0.45;
 HFF (2) metal particles in water: Dρ ¼ 10, Pr ¼ 7.0, γ ¼ 0.1; and
25,7 (3) metal particles in oil: Dρ ¼ 10, Pr ¼ 1,000.0, γ ¼ 0.3.
The numerical values of τw and Qw for Dρ ¼ 0.0,5.0, n ¼ 0.0,1.0, Pr ¼ 0.005 (practically
represent sodium at operating temperature) and γ ¼ 1.0 are entered in Table II.
Here γ ¼ 1.0 indicate the case when heat flux relaxes from the frozen behavior
1552 towards the thermal equilibrium behavior. Or in other words γ ¼ 1.0 elucidates
that the specific heat of the gas at constant pressure and the specific heat of the
particle phase are equal, i.e., cs ¼ cp, and this is valid for most of the gases. Numerical
values of τw(Qw) at Y ¼ 0 indicate that slip velocity (heat flux rate) decreases
(increases) due to the increment in the power index n. Therefore, n can be served to
enhance heat transfer rate.
The numerical solutions are discussed for the mixture of gas, water and oil
with metal particles. In Figure 2 air particle mixture and water particle mixture
are shown in terms of local skin friction and Nusselt number coefficients. It can be
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observed that the graphs in which air act as a carrier fluid is highly influenced due

τw Qw τw Qw
n ¼ 0.0 n ¼ 1.0
X Dρ ¼ 0.0 Dρ ¼ 5.0 Dρ ¼ 0.0 Dρ ¼ 5.0 Dρ ¼ 0.0 Dρ ¼ 5.0 Dρ ¼ 0.0 Dρ ¼ 5.0

0.02 1.42523 1.37549 0.04170 0.05251 1.16576 1.13320 0.06689 0.08383

0.5 1.42523 1.01051 0.04170 0.06372 1.16576 0.85434 0.06689 0.10236
1.0 1.42523 0.96330 0.04170 0.06391 1.16576 0.80694 0.06689 0.10355
2.0 1.42523 0.93821 0.04170 0.06398 1.16576 0.77810 0.06689 0.10409
5.0 1.42523 0.92274 0.04170 0.06401 1.16576 0.75884 0.06689 0.10436
6.0 1.42523 0.92100 0.04170 0.06402 1.16576 0.75663 0.06689 0.10440
7.0 1.42523 0.91976 0.04170 0.06402 1.16576 0.75501 0.06689 0.10442
Table II. 7.5 1.42523 0.91926 0.04170 0.06402 1.16576 0.75436 0.06689 0.10442
Numerical values 8.0 1.42523 0.91882 0.04170 0.06402 1.16576 0.75379 0.06689 0.10443
of τw and Qw for 8.5 1.42523 0.91844 0.04170 0.06402 1.16576 0.75328 0.06689 0.10443
Dρ ¼ 0.0,5.0; 9.0 1.42523 0.91809 0.04170 0.06402 1.16576 0.75283 0.06689 0.10444
n ¼ 0.0,1.0; 9.5 1.42523 0.91779 0.04170 0.06402 1.16576 0.75243 0.06689 0.10444
Pr ¼ 0.005; γ ¼ 1.0 10.0 1.42523 0.91751 0.04170 0.06402 1.16576 0.75207 0.06689 0.10445

(a) (b)
1.0 Pure air 2.8 Air with particles

2.4
0.8
Figure 2.
2.0
(a) Skin friction and Pure water
(b) Nusselt number 0.6
Qw

1.6
τw

coefficients for air Water with particles

and water particle
0.4 1.2
flow with
Dρ ¼ 10,000.0(air), Water with particles
0.8
10.0(water), Pr ¼ 0.7 0.2
(air), 7.0(water), Pure water
Air with particles Pure air
0.4
γ ¼ 0.45(air), 0.1
(water) and n ¼ 0.0 10–1 100 101 10–1 100 101
ξ ξ
 to the presence of metal particles as compared to water particulate suspension. Convection
Results are displayed for the two-phase and the single phase flows. It is revealed flow of a
that slip velocity (Nusselt number) reduces (enhances) as the mass concentration
parameter, Dρ penetrates into the mechanism. For Dρ ¼ 0.0 the solutions are identical
dusty fluid
to those of the classical problem of natural convection flow of a viscous fluid along
the vertical plate. Here the carrier phase loses (gains) some kinetic and thermal energy
from the particles through the interaction and the carrier fluid velocity (temperature) 1553
decreases (increase) above the pure fluid case. Consequently, the velocity (temperature)
gradient for the carrier fluid decreases (increase) at the wall so that the skin
friction (heat transfer) decreases (increase).
The contamination of oil by metal particles is depicted in Figure 3. For
comparison, suspension without particle cloud (pure oil) is also presented. The
magnitude of the physical quantities: τw and Qw increases drastically when oil
contains metal particles. In other words, a significant rise in the magnitude of the
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carrier phase velocity gradient is noticed near the plate due to particles. More
interestingly, the behavior of oil mixture on Figure 3(b) is noticeable since heat
transfer rate becomes negative. It happens because hot stream due to buoyancy rises
and most probably the temperature of the carrier fluid becomes higher than the
temperature at the interface and in turn gives negative heat transfer rate.
Further, in Figure 4 graphs of velocity (Figure 4(a)) and temperature (Figure 4(b))
profiles of carrier phase as well as particle phase are given. In the two-phase flow the

(a) (b)
90.0
0.0×10+00
Oil with particles
Pure oil

60.0
–2.0×10+04 Figure 3.
Oil with particles
Qw
τw

(a) Skin friction and

30.0 (b) Nusselt number
coefficients for oil
–4.0×10+04 particle flow with
Pure oil Dρ ¼ 10.0,
0.0 Pr ¼ 1,000.0, γ ¼ 0.3
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 and n ¼ 0.0
ξ ξ

(a) (b)
0.5 1.0
Pure air (Dρ=0.0)
Θp
0.8 Θ

0.4
Up 0.6 Pure air (D ρ=0.0) Figure 4.
Θ, Θp
U, Up

U
(a) Velocity and
0.4 (b) temperature
0.2
profiles for air
0.2 particle flow with
Air with particles (Dρ=1,000.0)
Air with particles
(D ρ=1,000.0)
Dρ ¼ 0.0, 1,000.0,
0.0
0.0 Pr ¼ 0.7, γ ¼ 0.45,
0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 ξ ¼ 30.0 and n ¼ 0.0
Y Y
 HFF fluid velocity is actually the source for the metal particles velocity. Compared to
25,7 clear fluid (pure air) the velocity and temperature of both the phases reduces
significantly when particles are loaded. Also, velocity and temperature distributions
reach their free-stream value more quickly and the boundary-layer thickness is
reduced. The relaxation time for energy transfer and the relative velocity between
the phases are the key factors over which temperature lag of the particulate phase
1554 depends. When these factors are considerably large, the particle cloud move quickly
toward the heated plate through the carrier fluid, maintaining the lower temperature
of the mixture layers far from the plate. When particles are loaded extensively, the
relative velocity between the two phases reduces and relaxation time for energy
transfer also decreases and ultimately temperature lags between the mixture
components become smaller. The thermal boundary layer becomes thinner due to
the large temperature lags between the phases.
Lastly, gas and particle phase velocity and temperature profiles with and without
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metal particles are schematically presented in Figure 5. In this figure red curves show
velocity and temperature profiles for particle phase whereas black curves represent
carrier phase. Here again it is noticed that velocity and temperature profile decreases
and quickly attain their asymptotic behavior when both phases are present (Dρ ≠ 0).
The profiles in Figure 5(b) for the two-phase and single phase curves are very close to
each other indicating that presence of metal particles do not have much influence on
temperature. However, significant difference is found in case of velocity distributions
which can be the result of following two factors: reduction in the buoyancy force; and
reduction in the drag from the particles.

5. Conclusion
In the present investigation, two-phase dusty boundary layer flow for two-dimensional
case is analyzed over a heated semi-infinite vertical plate. Primitive variable formulations
are adopted to transform the dimensionless boundary layer equations into convenient
form over which finite difference method is applied. The numerical technique gives
detailed description of the two-phase flow behavior over the heated plate. Results are
interpreted by considering base fluid/continuous fluid as water, air and oil, while particle
cloud contains metal as a particle phase. The results are discussed in terms of significant
flow characteristics by altering various flow parameters. It is concluded that the thin
boundary layer structures can be developed when high density ratios (heavily loaded
particles in the base fluid) or high Prandtl number (e.g. oil-metal particle mixture) is
established between the phases.
(a) (b)
1.0
0.27
Θp
0.8
Pure water (Dρ=0.0) Θ
0.18 Pure water (Dρ=0.0)
0.6
Θ, Θp
U, Up

Up
Figure 5.
U
(a) Velocity and (b) 0.09
0.4
temperature profiles
for water particle 0.2
Water with particles
flow with Dρ ¼ 0.0, 0.00
(Dρ=10.0)
10.0, Pr ¼ 7.0, γ ¼ 0.1, Water with particles (Dρ=10.0)
0.0
ξ ¼ 30.0 and n ¼ 0.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0
Y Y
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Corresponding author
Dr Sadia Siddiqa can be contacted at: saadiasiddiqa@gmail.com
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