Effects of variable permeability and radiation absorption on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mixed convective flow in a vertical wavy channel with traveling thermal waves

An analysis has been carried out to study the effects of radiation absorption and first-order chemical reaction on unsteady mixed convective flow of a viscous incompressible electrically conducting fluid through a porous medium of variable permeability between two long vertical non conducting wavy channels in the presence of heat generation. The unsteadiness in the flow is due to traveling thermal wave imposed on the walls. The governing equations are solved subject to the relevant boundary conditions with the assumption that the solution consists of a mean part and a perturbed part. The zeroth-order, the first order and the total solution of the problem are numerically evaluated and displayed graphically for pertinent parameters. This model finds applications in studying fixed-bed catalytic reactors and packed bed heat exchangers.