Optimal Design of Magnetohydrodynamic Mixed Convection Flow in a Vertical Channel with Slip Boundary Conditions and Thermal Radiation Effects by Using an Entropy Generation Minimization Method

Investigation of the effect of thermal radiation on a fully developed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) convective flow of a Newtonian, incompressible and electrically conducting fluid in a vertical microchannel bounded by two infinite vertical parallel plates with constant temperature walls through a lateral magnetic field of uniform strength is presented. The Rosseland model for the conduction radiation heat transfer in an absorbing medium and two plates with slip-flow and no-slip conditions are assumed. In addition, the induced magnetic field is neglected due to the assumption of a small magnetic Reynolds number. The non-dimensional governing equations are solved numerically using Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method with a shooting technique. The channel is optimized based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics by changing various parameters such as the thermal radiation parameter, the temperature parameter, Hartmann number, Grashof to Reynolds ratio, velocity slip length, and temperature jump. OPEN ACCESS Entropy 2015, 17 867