The problem of electric charge convection in a dielectric liquid layer of high ionic purity, when subjected to unipolar injection, is in many ways analogous to that of thermal convection in a horizontal fluid layer heated from below, although no formal analogy can be established. The problem treated is intrinsically more nonlinear than the thermal problem. We consider two asymptotic states of convection: one where the whole motion is dominated by viscosity, and one where inertial effects dominate. In each state, two or three spatial regions are distinguished. From the approximate equations that hold in the different regions, information about the variation of the different quantities with distance from the injector is obtained, and further approximations permit us to establish the dependence of the current density ratio I/I0 (called the electric Nusselt number) on the stability parameter T = M2R = εϕ0/Kρν, and on 1/R = ν/Kϕ0, which is an equivalent Prandtl number (ε is the permittivity, ρ the fluid density, K the mobility, ν the kinematic viscosity, and ϕ0 the applied voltage). In the viscous state, the analysis gives I/I0 ∞ T½; in the inertial state the law I/I0 ∞ (T/R)1/4 = M½ is obtained. Since M is independent of the applied voltage, the latter law shows the saturation in the electric Nusselt number observed in earlier experiments. The transition in the states is associated with a transition number (MR)T [gap ] 30, which is an electric Reynolds number, related to an ordinary Reynolds number of about 10.

The experimental results, obtained in liquids of very different viscosities and dielectric constants, verify these theoretical predictions; further, they yield more precise numerical coefficients. As for the transition criteria, the experiments confirm that the viscous and inertial effects are of the same order when Re [gap ] 10. It was also possible to determine roughly the limits of the viscous and inertial states. The viscous analysis remains valid up to a Reynolds number of about 1; the inertial state can be considered valid down to a Reynolds number of 60. Schlieren observations show that the motion has the structure of very stable hexagonal cells at applied voltages just above the critical voltage, which are transformed into unstable filaments when the voltage is increased further. At even higher voltages, the motion finally breaks down into turbulence. It may be of interest to point out that, when M < 3, the electric Nusselt number approaches 1, which is equivalent to the situation in thermal convection at low Prandtl numbers.