Group analysis for the effects of the temperature-dependent fluid viscosity and chemical reaction on free convective heat and mass transfer

A group analysis has been carried out to study heat and mass transfer characteristics of an incompressible Newtonian fluid having a temperature-dependent viscosity over a vertical stretching surface in the presence of thermal radiation and a chemical reaction. The Rosseland approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy equation. The vertical surface is assumed to be permeable so as to allow for possible wall suction or injection. The governing differential equations are derived and transformed using the Lie group analysis. The transformed equations are solved numerically by applying the Runge-Kutta-Gill scheme with the shooting technique. Favorable comparisons with previously published works on various special cases of the problem are obtained.