Ellahi, R., et al.

: A Study of Heat Transfer in Power Law Nanofluid

THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 2015-2026 2015

A STUDY OF HEAT TRANSFER IN POWER LAW NANOFLUID

by

Rahmat ELLAHIa,b *, Mohsin HASSANc, and Ahmad ZEESHANa

a
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, FBAS, IIUI, Islamabad, Pakistan
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California Riverside, Riverside, Cal., USA
c
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Sciences, HITEC University, Taxila Cantt, Pakistan
Original scientific paper
DOI: 10.2298/TSCI150524129E

The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of nanoparticles on mixed con-
vection flow of power law fluid. The shear thinning fluid is considered as base
fluid. The nanoparticles of copper for nanofluid are taken into account. To analy-
sis the flow and temperature behavior, various mass concentrations of polyvinyl
alcohol in water, different sizes and concentrations of nanoparticles are used.
The effects of nanoparticle concentrations on shear stress, heat flux, and thermal
resistance are also presented.
Key words: mixed convection, power law model, nanofluid, shears stress,
heat flux, thermal resistance

Introduction
The heat transfer by mean of fluid flow is encountered in numerous applications
such as heat exchangers, cooling systems, electronic equipment, etc. Most of the Newtonian
and non-Newtonian fluids such as water, oil, ethylene glycol mixture, molten plastics, poly-
mers, glues, ink, pulps, foodstuffs, and slurries are too much used in various manufacturing,
industrial and engineering applications [1, 2]. To achieve the desired requirement in industry,
the thermal performance of heat transfer in the conventional fluids is not appropriate because
of its lower thermal conductivity. Numerous researchers have been investigating better tech-
niques to enhance the thermal performance of heat transfer fluids. One of the methods used is
to add nanosized particles of high thermal conductive materials like carbon, metals, and metal
oxides into the heat transfer fluid to increase the overall thermal conductivity of the fluid
[3, 5]. As a result of thermal conductivity the base fluid is dramatically enhanced in the pres-
ence of nanoparticles that is why the thermal conductivity of nanofluids has attracted the most
widely attention of scientists due to its essential heat transfer properties. Sajadi et al. [6] re-
ported the experimental study to improve the thermal performance of Newtonian fluid water
by ZnO particles. The results indicated that heat transfer coefficient increases by 11% and
18% with increasing the volume fractions of nanoparticles to 1% and 2%, respectively. It is
overall thermal performance of nanofluid which is higher than that of pure water up to 16%
for 2% volume concentration of nanoparticles. Another experimentally study examined the
forced convective heat transfer in non-Newtonian nanofluids through a uniformly heated cir-
cular tube under turbulent flow conditions [7]. It is observed that the local and average heat
transfer coefficients of nanofluid are larger than that of the base fluid. Heat transfer enhance-
––––––––––––––
* Corresponding author emails: [email protected], [email protected]
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2016 THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 2015-2026

ment of nanofluids increases with an increase in nanoparticle concentration. Nadeem et al. [8]
have studied the non-Newtonian power-law nanofluids past a linearly stretching sheet. In this
study the nanoparticle concentration distribution is illustrated by Brownian motion parameter.
The obtained results demonstrate that the Brownian motion of nanoparticles achieves thermal
conductivity enhancement and as a result temperature distribution enhances strongly. They
conclude that enhanced migration of suspended nanoparticles via the mechanisms of thermo-
phoresis increases energy exchange rates in the fluid. Nevertheless, addition of nanoparticle
improves the thermal properties even in Newtonian and Non-Newtonian base fluid [7-12].
In this paper, the shear thinning polymer solution fluid under the influence of nano-
particle on it over stretching sheet is investigated. The study of mass flow and heat transfer
over a stretching sheet may find its applications in polymer technology related to the stretch-
ing of plastic sheets. Also, many metallurgical processes involve the cooling of continuous
strips or filaments by drawing them through a quiescent fluid and while drawing these strips
are sometimes stretched. For shear thinning fluid, power law model and mathematical model
reduced into non-linearity. Due to intrinsic non-linearity of the governing equations, analyti-
cal solutions are very rare. To deal with this difficulty numerous analytical and semi analyti-
cal methods have been established. The optical homotopy analysis method is one of most ef-
fective technique among them to handle this obstacle. The solutions of non-linear resulting
equations are carried out by using optimal homotopy analysis method [13, 14]. The behaviors
of particle volume friction, particle size and concentration of polymer on the velocity, temper-
ature, shear stress, and heat flux are analyzed through graphs.
Mathematical formulation
Consider the steady-state, incompressible, mixed convection boundary layer flow of
power-law fluid over a stretching sheet. The positive x-axis is assumed along the direction of
the flow and y-axis measured normal to the sheet. The flow
phenomena generated as a result of linear stretching of sheet as
shown in fig. 1, and shear thickening fluids and defined:

τ = K γn (1)
where K is the consistency coefficient and n – the flow behav-
ior index. For a special case of a Newtonian fluid (n = 1), when
the magnitude of n < 1 the fluid is shear-thinning and when Figure 1. Geometry of the
n > 1 the fluid is shear-thickening in nature. Here we consider problem
the shear-thinning polymer solution of different consideration
of polyvinyl alcohol in water. For, the nanofluid, polymer solution is used as base fluid with
nanoparticle of copper. Under the Boussinesq approximation, the governing equations in
component form for power law model can be written:
∂u ∂v
+ 0
= (2)
∂x ∂y
 ∂u ∂u  ∂  ∂u 
ρnf  u + v=   µnf  + ( ρβ )nf g (T − T∞ ) (3)
 ∂x ∂y  ∂y  ∂y 
 ∂T ∂T  ∂2T
u +v = αnf 2 (4)
 ∂x ∂y  ∂y
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THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 2015-2026 2017

subject to boundary condition are:

u ( x, 0)= u ( x=
) U= ax, v( x, 0)= 0, 

 x 
T ( x, =
0) T∞ + A    (5)
l
  
( x, ∞) 0, T=
u= ( x, ∞) T∞ 

In the equations, u and ν are the velocity components in the x-axis and y-axis direc-
tions, respectively. In eqs. (6)-(8), the effective density, ρnf, heat capacitance, (Cp)nf , and
thermal expansion coefficient, βnf, of the nanofluid are defined:
ρnf =
(1 − f ) ρ f + fρs (6)

( ρ C p ) nf =
(1 − f )( ρ C p )f + f ( ρ C p )s (7)

( ρβ )nf =
(1 − f )( ρβ ) f + f ( ρβ )s (8)

In order to include the effect of the liquid layer, nanoparticle-in-liquid suspension

with nanosize spherical particles of radius, Rp is used. The solid-like layer of thickness, hlayer,
around the particles is assumed to be more ordered than that of the bulk liquid whereas the
thermal conductivity, klayer, of ordered layer is higher than that of the bulk liquid. We also as-
sumed that the nanolayer around each particle could be combined with the particle to form an
equivalent particle and that the particle volume concentration is so low and a result there is no
overlap of those equivalent particles. The thermal conductive model [15] of nanofluid for
nanolayer effect is given:

kpe + 2kf + 2(kpe − kf )(1 + β )3 f

knf = kf (9)
kpe + 2kf − (kpe − kf )(1 + β )3 f

where kpe is the thermal conductive of particle defined by:

[2(1 − γ ) + (1 + β )3 (1 + 2γ )] γ
kpe = ks (10)
−(1 − γ ) + (1 + β )3 (1 + 2γ )
Here γ = klayer/ks is the ratio of nanolayer thermal conductivity to particle thermal conductivity
and β = hlayer/Rp – the ratio of the nanolayer thickness to the original particle radius. The vis-
cosity model of nanofluid [16] is given:

[1 + (2.5fe ) + (2.5fe )2 + (2.5fe )3 + ...]µf

µnf = (11)
in which ϕe = ϕ(1 + β)3 and μf is defined for power law fluid:
n −1
 ∂u 
µf = K   (12)
 ∂y 
By using the following similarity variables:
 Ellahi, R., et al.: A Study of Heat Transfer in Power Law Nanofluid
2018 THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 2015-2026

1 1 
y −
=η = (Rex )1+ n , y Ux(Rex ) 1+ n f (η ), 
x 
 (13)
T − T∞ ∂y ∂y 
θ (η ) = , u= , v= −
Tw − T∞ ∂y ∂x 

into eqs. (2)-(5), the non-dimensional ordinary differential equations along with the associated
boundary conditions can be written:
ρnf  2  2n  
ρf 
f ' −
 n + 1  
(
[1 + (2.5fe ) + (2.5fe )2 + ...] n f ''
 ff ′′ =
n −1
)
f ′′′ + λ
( ρβ )nf
( ρβ )f
θ (14)

( r Cp )nf   2n  ′ knf ′′
Pr  f ′θ −   fθ  = θ (15)
( r Cp )f   n +1  kf

(0) 0, f =
f= '(0) 1, f '(=
∞) 0, 
 (16)
θ=
(0) 1, θ (=
∞) 0 
where Pr = (ax2/αf)(Rex)2/(1+n) is the modified Prandtl number, λ = Grx/Rex – the mixed con-
vection parameter, Grx = [gβ(Tw – T∞)ρfxa–n]/K – the local Grashof number, and Rex =
= (ρfU2–nxn)/K – the local Reynolds number.
Shear stress and heat flux
The shear stress can be obtained:
n −1
2 3  ∂u  ∂u
τ = K [1 + (2.5φφφ
e ) + (2.5 e ) + (2.5 e ) + ...]   (17)
 ∂y  ∂y
The different values for different concentration of polyvinyl alcohol are presented in
tab. 1(a) and (b).

Table 1(a). Rheological properties of PVC solutions [17] and power law equation
PVC Consistency Exponent
Shear stress
[%] index index
0.790
 ∂u 
2 0.00494 0.790 τ =4.94 ⋅ 10−3[1 + (2.5φφφ 2 3
e ) + (2.5 e ) + (2.5 e ) + ...]  
 ∂y 
0.764
 ∂u 
3 0.00925 0.764 τ =9.27 ⋅ 10−3[1 + (2.5φφφ 2 3
e ) + (2.5 e ) + (2.5 e ) + ...]  
 ∂y 
0.734
 ∂u 
4 0.01557 0.734 τ=1.56 ⋅ 10−2 [1 + (2.5φφφ 2 3
e ) + (2.5 e ) + (2.5 e ) + ...]  
 ∂y 
0.718
 ∂u 
5 0.02170 0.718 τ =2.17 ⋅ 10−2 [1 + (2.5φφφ 2 3
e ) + (2.5 e ) + (2.5 e ) + ...]  
 ∂y 
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THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 2015-2026 2019

Table 1(b). Thermal conductivity of PVC solutions and heat flux equation
PVC [%] Thermal conductivity Heat flux

kpe + 1.172 + 2(kpe − 0.586)(1 + β )3φ ∂T

2 0.586 q = −0.586
kpe + 1.172 − (kpe − 0.586)(1 + β )3φ ∂y

kpe + 1.158 + 2(kpe − 0.579)(1 + β )3φ ∂T

3 0.579 q = −0.579
kpe + 1.158 − (kpe − 0.579)(1 + β )3φ ∂y

kpe + 1.44 + 2(kpe − 0.572)(1 + β )3φ ∂T

4 0. 572 q = −0.572
kpe + 1.44 − (kpe − 0.572)(1 + β )3φ ∂y

kpe + 1.132 + 2(kpe − 0.566)(1 + β )3φ ∂T

5 0.566 q = −0.566
kpe + 1.132 − (kpe − 0.566)(1 + β )3φ ∂y

The wall shear stress in term of skin friction coefficient can be expressed:
2τ w
Cf = (18)
ρ uw2
where
n
2  ∂u 
3
τw =
K [1 + (2.5φφφ
e ) + (2.5 e ) + (2.5 e ) + ...]  
 ∂y y =0

and the dimensionless form of skin friction is:

n
Cf Re1/2
x =+2[1 (2.5fe ) + (2.5fe )2 + (2.5fe )3 + ...] f ′′ ( 0 ) (19)

The heat flux is:

q = −knf ∂T (20)
∂y
The heat transfer coefficient is defined:
 
knf  ∂T 
 ∂y y =0
h= − (21)
Tw − T∞

The local Nusselt number is given by:

hx
Nu = (22)
kf
The dimensionless form of Nusselt number is obtained:
knf
Nu Re−x 1/2 = − θ ′(0) (23)
kf
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2020 THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 2015-2026

Solution by optimal homotopy analysis method (OHAM)

We now solve the said non-linear boundary value problem by the OHAM. In order
to find explicit formula for f(η) and θ(η), first of all, it is obvious that f(η) and θ(η) can be ex-
pressed by a set of base functions:

{ yk e− ny k ≥ 0, n ≥ 0} (24)

in the forms:
∞ ∞
f (η ) = ∑ ∑ amk ,n η k e− nη (25)
n 0=
= k 0

∞ ∞
θ (η ) = ∑ ∑ bmk ,n η k e− nη (26)
n 0=
= k 0

in which amk ,n and bmk ,n are constant coefficients. Now we choose initial guesses and linear op-
erators of the form:
d3 d d2
£1 = 3
− , £2 = −1 (27)
dη dη dη 2

1  1 −η 
f0 (η ) =+  e − 1 e−η , e−η
θ0 (η ) = (28)
2 2 
and construct the zero-order deformation:

(1 − p)£1[ fˆ (η , p) − f0 (η )] =
pc0f N1[ fˆ (η , p),θˆ(η , p)] (29)

pc0θ N2 [ fˆ (η , p ),θˆ(η , p )]
(1 − p)£2 [θˆ(η , p) − θ0 (η , p )] = (30)

∂fˆ (η , p ) 
fˆ=
(η , p) 0, = 1, θˆ=
(η , p ) 1=
at η 0 
∂η 
 (31)
∂fˆ (η , p) 
= 0, = θˆ(η , p) 0 at η → ∞ 
∂η 
where p ∈ [0,1] indicates the embedding parameter and c0f and c0θ represent auxiliary parame-
ters. Moreover the non-linear operators N1 and N2 are defined:
ρ   m +1 ˆ 
N1[ fˆ (η , p),θˆ(η , p)] =
− nf mfˆ '2 (η , p) −  ˆ
 f (η , p) f ''(η , p )  +
ρf   2  
e ( ρβ )nf ˆ
+ [1 + (2.5fe ) + (2.5fe )2 + ...]  n fˆ ''(η , p )  fˆ '''(η , p ) + λ θ (η , p) (32)
  ( ρβ )f

( r Cp )nf   2n  ˆ ˆ  knf ˆ
N2 [ fˆ (η , p ),θˆ(η , p )] =
− Pr  fˆ 'θˆ −   f θ ' + θ '' (33)
( r Cp )f   n +1  kf

here ε = n – 1. When p = 0, and p = 1, we have:

 Ellahi, R., et al.: A Study of Heat Transfer in Power Law Nanofluid
THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 2015-2026 2021

= fˆ (η , 0) f=
0 (η ), θˆ(η , 0) θ0 (η ) 
 (34)
= fˆ (η ,1) f= (η ) θˆ(η ,1) θ (η ) 
Expand fˆ (η , p) and θˆ(η , p ) in Taylor's series:
∞
, p) f0 (η ) + ∑ fm (η ) pm 
fˆ (η=
m =1 

 (35)
∞
θˆ(η= m
, p) θ0 (η ) + ∑ θm (η ) p 
m =1 

where

1 ∂θ m (η , p) 1 ∂f m (η , p )
=θm (η ) = , fm (η ) (36)
m ! ∂pm
= p 0=
m ! ∂pm p 0

The auxiliary parameters are so properly chosen that series converge when p = 1 and
thus:
m
f (η ) f0 (η ) + ∑ fk (η ) 
=
k =1 

 (37)
m
θ=(η ) θ0 (η ) + ∑ θk (η ) 
k =1 

The mth order deformation problems are:

£1 [ fm (η ) − cm fm −1 (η )] =
c0f R1m (η ) (38)

£2 [θm (η ) − cmθm −1 (η ) ] =
c0θ R 2m (η ) (39)

∂fm (0) 
fm (0) 0, =
= 1,= θm (0) 0 
∂η 
 (40)
∂fm (∞) 
= 0, θ= m (∞ ) 0
∂η 
where
ρ  m  m + 1  m ′ ′′ 
R1m (η ) = − nf m ∑ fk′ fm′ − k −   ∑ fk fm − k  +
= ρf  k 0=  2 k 0 
( ρβ )nf
+ [1 + (2.5fe ) + (2.5fe )2 + ...]nHe ,k + λ θm (41)
( ρβ )f

 m n+7 m  1  knf 
Pr  n ∑ θk fm′ − k − 
R 2m (η ) =  ∑ fkθm′ − k  −  θm′′  (42)
=  k 0=  4 k 0  (1 − f ) + f ( r Cp )s  kf 
( r Cp )f

in which:
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  ∂3 fˆ  ∂3 fˆ ε  
1  ∂k  
Hε ,k =  k 3  3    (43)
k !  ∂p  ∂η  ∂η   
    p =0
0, m ≤1
χm =  (44)
1, m >1

One can note that the series solutions contain the non-zero auxiliary parameters c0f
θ
and c0 which determine the convergence-region and rate of the homotopy series solutions. To
find out the optimal values of c0f and c0θ , the average residual error are defined by:
∞
 ρnf  ' 2  m + 1  
Ef =
0
−
 ∫
ρf 
mf −   ff ′′ +
 2  
2
2
(
+ [1 + (2.5fe ) + (2.5fe ) + ...] n f ''
n −1
) f ′′′ + λ
( ρβ )nf 
θ  dη
( ρβ )f 
(45)

∞ 2
 ( r Cp )nf   2n  ′ knf ′′
Eθ
=
0


∫
Pr 
( r Cp )f 
f ′θ −   fθ  −
 n +1  kf
θ  dη

(46)

The total squared residual error is follow:

Etotal
= Ef + Eθ (47)
To check the accuracy of OHAM code, the values of Nu Re−x 1/2 presented by Shah-
zad and Ramzan [18] are compared with obtained results as shown in tab. 2. The optimal val-
ues are also shown in tab. 2 and found very good agreement that is infecting a very useful
check for the accuracy.

Table 2. Comparison of the obtained results with the ones from the open literature
n = 1, Pr = 1, M = 1, Nr = 0.5 n = 2, Pr = 1, M = 1, Nr = 0.5
Shahzad and Shahzad and
λ c0f c0θ Present c0f c0θ Present
Ramzan [18] Ramzan [18]
0 –1.15 –0.88 0.6762 0.6762 –0.85 –0.81 0.7232 0.7215
0.5 –1.04 –0.84 0.7170 0.7188 –0.82 –0.80 0.7520 0.7560
1 –0.56 –0.79 0.7532 0.7546 –0.54 –0.77 0.7869 0.7875

Results and discussion

To see effects of emerging parameters involved in the expression of velocity and
temperature distributions of shear shear-thinning based nanofluids contained Cu nanoparticles
are examined through figs. 2-7. In the study, the value of modified Prandtl number and mixed
convection parameter, λ, depend on stretching velocity and fluid nature. To see the effects of
particle volume friction, particle size, and different concentration of PVC on velocity and
temperature, the values of modified Prandtl number, and λ are given in tab. 3.
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THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 2015-2026 2023

Table 3. The values of different parameters corresponding to different nanofluids

U [ms–1] x [m] PVC [%] Pr Grx Rex λ
0.2 0.01 2 8.491 4.1004 764.22 0.00536
– – 3 14.24 2.3658 442.95 0.00534
– – 4 20.85 1.5438 289.04 0.00534
– – 5 27.36 1.1666 218.44 0.00534

In addition, the spherical shape of particle, the nanolayer thickness hlayer of 1 nm and
nanolayer thermal conductivity klayer of 2kf is used in the proposed model. The effects of parti-
cle volume friction on velocity and temperature profiles are displayed in figs. 2 and 3, respec-
tively. Figure 2 points out that when the particle concentration increases then the velocity of
fluid reduces. On the other hand, in fig. 3, it is seen that the temperature profile is enhanced
by raising the particle volume friction. This is due fact that the temperature of fluid is en-
larged when the thermal conductivity is raised. Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the effects of particle
radius on the velocity and temperature profiles of nanofluid, respectively. In fig. 4, the veloci-
ty of fluid is decreased when size of particle is increased. In addition, it is also observed that
temperature of fluid is turn down when radius of particle is enhanced. It is found that when
size of particle increases then the Brownian motion of particles slowdown the effects of fluid
on velocity and temperature profiles. Figures 6 and 7 demonstrate the behavior of different
concentrations of PVC on the velocity and temperature profiles of nanofluid, respectively. It

Figure 2. Effect of particle volume friction on Figure 3. Effect of particle volume friction on
velocity profile when Rp = 10 nm temperature profile when Rp = 10 nm

Figure 4. Effect of particle volume friction on Figure 5. Effect of particle volume friction on
velocity profile when ϕ = 4% temperature profile when ϕ = 4%
 Ellahi, R., et al.: A Study of Heat Transfer in Power Law Nanofluid
2024 THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 2015-2026

is examined in fig. 6, the velocity of nanofluid is increased when concentration of PVC is en-
hanced. The results in fig. 7 demonstrate that decrement in temperature is occurred near to the
wall and far from the wall it is enhanced by increasing the mass concentration in water.

Figure 6. Effect of PVC concentration on velocity Figure 7. Effect of PVC concentration on

profile when ϕ = 4% and Rp = 10 nm temperature profile when ϕ = 4% and Rp = 10 nm
The second set of results show the effects on shear stress and heat flux by adding
nanoparticles in PVC solutions. Figures 8 and 9 illustrate the effects of particles volume fric-
tion on shear stress in x- and y-directions, correspondingly. In fig. 8, shear stress increases by
increasing the particle volume friction rate. It is observed that shear stress increases near to
slit and after some distance no effective change is found. The shear stress in the direction of y-
axis, increases by increasing the particles volume friction as shown in fig. 9. Figures 10 and
11 show the effects of particle volume friction on heat flux along x- and y-axis. It is depicted

Figure 8. Effect of particle volume friction Figure 9. Effect of particle volume friction on shear
on shear stress in x-direction when Rp = 10 nm stress in y-direction when Rp = 10 nm

Figure 10. Effect of particle volume friction Figure 11. Effect of particle volume friction on heat
on heat flux in x-direction when Rp = 10 nm flux in y-direction when Rp = 10 nm
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THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 2015-2026 2025

in fig. 10 that heat flux along x-axis increases

by increasing the particle volume friction. It is
in accordance with the physical expectation that
that thermal conductivity increases by enrich-
ment of volume concentration of nanoparticles
and as a consequence nanoparticles act the be-
havior like bridge to pass heat flow. It is also
noticed that heat flux near to slit increases read-
ily and then became constant after some length
of plate. Figure 11 portrays that when volume
friction of nanoparticles increases, the heat flux Figure 12. Effect of particle volume friction on
also increased in the region of boundary layer. thermal resistance when Rp = 10 nm
Figure 12 shows the effect of volume concen-
tration of particles on thermal resistance at the wall. It is seen that thermal resistance reduces
by increasing the concentration of particles. It is happened due to increasing the heat flux en-
hancement in particle concentration.
Conclusions
In this paper, mixed convection heat transfer flow of power law nanofluid over
starching plate is investigated. The effects of nanoparticle on velocity, temperature, shear
stress, heat flux, and thermal resistance polymer solution with different concentration of PVC
are investigated. The main findings of reported results are:
• the velocity of shear thinning fluid declines when particle volume concentration, PVC
mass concentration and size of particle are raised,
• the shear stress increases due to increasing the volume concentration,
• the temperature and heat flux of shear thinning fluid enlarged by enhancement of particle
volume concentration whereas improvement in temperature with small size of particle is
observed, and
• a comparison is also made as a limiting case of presented model.
Nomenclature
Cf – skin friction coefficient, [–] x – horizontal Cartesian co-ordinate, [m]
Cp – effective specific heat capacity, [Jkg–1K–1] y – vertical Cartesian co-ordinate, [m]
f – dimensionless stream function, [–]
Greek symbols
Grx – local Grashof number, [–]
h – heat transfer coefficient, [Wm–2K] α – fluid thermal diffusivity, [m2s–1]
K – consistency index, [Pa·s] β – thermal expansion coefficient, [K–1]
k – thermal conductivity, [Wm–1K–1] θ – dimensionless temperature, [–]
Nu – effective Nusselt number, [–] λ – mixed convection parameter, [–]
n – power law index, [–] μ – viscosity base fluid, [kgm–1s–1]
Pr – Prandtl number, [–] ρ – mass density, [kgm–3]
q – heat flux, [Wm–2] Subscripts
Rex – local Reynolds number, [–]
Rp – radius of nanoparticle, [nm] nf – nanofluid
T – temperature of fluid, [K] s – solid particle
u – horizontal velocity component, [ms–1] f – base fluid
v – vertical velocity component, [ms–1] layer – nanolayer
 Ellahi, R., et al.: A Study of Heat Transfer in Power Law Nanofluid
2026 THERMAL SCIENCE, Year 2016, Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 2015-2026

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Paper submitted: May 24, 2015

Paper revised: August 28, 2015
Paper accepted: August 28, 2015