Scrutinization of thermal stratification, nonlinear thermal radiation and quartic autocatalytic chemical reaction effects on the flow of three-dimensional Eyring-Powell alumina-water nanofluid

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize the effects of nonlinear thermal radiation and thermal stratification effects on the flow of three-dimensional Eyring-Powell 36 nm alumina-water nanofluid within the thin boundary layer in the presence of quartic autocatalytic kind of chemical reaction effects, and to unravel the effects of a magnetic field parameter, random motion of the tiny nanoparticles and volume fraction on the flow. Design/methodology/approach The chemical reaction between homogeneous (Eyring-Powell 36 nm alumina-water) bulk fluid and heterogeneous (three molecules of the catalyst at the surface) in the flow of magnetohydrodynamic three-dimensional flow is modeled as a quartic autocatalytic kind of chemical reaction. The electromagnetic radiation which occurs within the boundary layer is treated as the nonlinear form due to the fact that Taylor series expansion may not give full details of such effects within the boundary layer. With the aid of appropriate similarity variables, the nonlinear coupled system of partial differential equation which models the flow was reduced to ordinary differential equation boundary value problem. Findings A favorable agreement of the present results is obtained by comparing it for a limiting case with the published results; hence, reliable results are presented. The concentration of homogeneous bulk fluid (Eyring-Powell nanofluid) increases and decreases with ϕ and Pr, respectively. The increase in the value of magnetic field parameter causes vertical and horizontal velocities of the flow within the boundary layer to decrease significantly. The decrease in the vertical and horizontal velocities of Eyring-Powell nanofluid flow within the boundary layer is guaranteed due to an increase in the value of M. Concentration of homogeneous fluid increases, while the concentration of the heterogeneous catalyst at the wall decreases with M. Originality/value Considering the industrial applications of thermal stratification in solar engineering and polymer processing where the behavior of the flow possesses attributes of Eyring-Powell 36 nm alumina-water, this paper presents the solution of the flow problem considering 36 nm alumina nanoparticles, thermophoresis, stratification of thermal energy, Brownian motion and nonlinear thermal radiation. In addition, the aim and objectives of this paper fill such vacuum in the industry.