Convection triggered by an electric field in a fluid heated from above

Abstract

I consider a dielectric fluid heated from above and subjected to an electric potential difference between its top and bottom. I show that for a suitably chosen electric potential difference, the layer of fluid can become unstable. For the case of a strongly polar fluid like pure water, an electric potential difference of a few hundreds of volts can trigger convection. Although the analysis in this paper cannot explain the phenomenon described in [Gross & Porter(1966)], it could be because of unavailability of accurate physical parameters of the fluid used in the experiment.