Bio-thermal convection induced by two different species of microorganisms

✍ Scribed by A.V. Kuznetsov

• Book ID: 103830029
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 219 KB
• Volume: 38
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0735-1933
• DOI: 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2011.02.006

✦ Synopsis

This paper develops a theory of bio-thermal convection in a suspension that contains two species of microorganisms exhibiting different taxes, gyrotactic and oxytactic microorganisms. The developed theory is applied to investigating the onset of bio-thermal convection in such a suspension occupying a horizontal layer of finite depth. A linear stability analysis is utilized to derive the equations for the amplitudes of disturbances. The obtained eigenvalue problem is solved by the Galerkin method. The case of non-oscillatory instability in a layer with a rigid lower boundary and a stress-free upper boundary is investigated. The resulting eigenvalue equation relates three Rayleigh numbers, the traditional Rayleigh number (Ra) and two bioconvection Rayleigh numbers, one for gyrotactic (Rb g ) and one for oxytactic (Rb o ) microorganisms. The neutral stability boundary is presented in the form of a diagram showing that boundary in the (Ra, Ra g ) plane for different values of Ra o .