Free Convective Heat Transfer Flow of Temperature Dependent Thermal Conductivity Along a Vertical Flat Plate with Heat Generation

The natural convection heat transfer flow of temperature dependent thermal conductivity on an electrically conducting fluid along a vertical flat plate with heat generation have been investigated in this paper. The governing equations with associated boundary conditions for this phenomenon are converted to dimensionless forms using a suitable transformation. The transformed non-linear equations are then solved using the implicit finite difference method. Numerical results of the velocity and temperature profiles for Prandtl number and heat generation parameter, skin friction and local rate of heat transfer profiles for different values of the thermal conductivity variation parameter, Prandtl number and heat generation parameters are presented graphically. Detailed discussion is given for the effects of the aforementioned parameters. Significant effects are found in velocity and temperature profiles for Prandtl number. Remarkable effects are found in skin friction and heat transfer for heat generation parameter. Also significant effect is found in heat transfer for thermal conductivity variation parameter.