Numerical analysis of the effect of chemical reaction and heat source on MHD hyperbolic tangent fluid flow across a non-linear stretching sheet in a porous medium

This study investigates the influence of chemical reactions, heat sources, and magnetohydrodynamic effects on the flow of hyperbolic tangent fluid over a nonlinear stretching sheet in a porous medium. Despite significant research on magnetohydro-dynamic flows, the combined effects of magnetohydrodynamics, chemical reactions and heat on hyperbolic tangent fluid flow in porous media have not been fully explored, especially under varying electromagnetic conditions. This gap is critical in applications such as geothermal energy extraction, petroleum recovery, polymer processing and cooling systems for electron-ics. The governing equations for mass, momentum, energy and species transport are transformed into a dimensionless system using similarity transformations and solved numerically using the implicit finite difference method with MATLAB’s ”bvp4c” solver. Key parameters, including magnetic field strength, porosity, chemical reaction rate and heat source/sink are analysed for their effects on velocity, temperature and concentration profiles. Notably, varying magnetic field strengths significantly influence flow characteristics, offering insights into the behaviour of hyperbolic tangent fluid under different electromagnetic conditions. Results of this study show that magnetohydrodynamic interactions, chemical processes and thermal effects signif-icantly affect the flow dynamics and heat transfer. Additionally, as the Darcy number increases and the permeability of the porous medium rises, so do the shear rates within the pores. This observation underscores the intricate relationship between the shear-thinning behaviour of heat transfer fluids and permeability, providing valuable insights for optimizing flow dynamics in porous media relevant to energy extraction and material processing applications.