The thesis is concerned with Rayleigh-Benard convection in a horizontal porous layer saturated with a viscoelastic fluid subject to a zero order exothermic chemical reaction. Modified Darcy law is employed to describe the fluid motion. The effect of viscoelasticity, chemical reaction, and rotation on the onset of convection is considered. The findings of the problems investigated in the thesis may prove useful in heat transfer application situations with viscoelastic fluids as working medium.
