A second-law analysis of a gravity-driven film of non-Newtonian fluid along an inclined heated plate is investigated. The flow is assumed to be steady, laminar and fully-developed. The upper surface of the liquid film is considered to be free and adiabatic. The effect of heat generation by viscous dissipation is included. Velocity, temperature and entropy generation profiles are presented. The effects of the flow behaviour index, the Brinkman number and the group parameter on velocity, temperature and entropy generation number are discussed. The results show that velocity profile depends largely on the flow behaviour index. They are flat near the free surface for pseudoplastic fluids and linear for dilatant fluids. Temperature profiles are higher for higher flow behaviour index and Brinkman number. The entropy generation number increases with Brinkman number and the group parameter because of the heat generated by the viscous dissipation effect. For pseudoplastic fluids, the irreversibility is dominated by heat transfer, whereas, for dilatant fluids, irreversibility due to fluid friction is more dominant.
Entropy generation; Non-Newtonian; Power-law fluids; Second-law; Viscous dissipation
