Convection in a fluid layer with a free surface in a cylindrical container non-homogeneously heated from below was studied experimentally. The heater has a circular form and was placed in the center of the vessel. Such a system in the presents of rotation is very promising for studying the nature of tropical cyclones. In current paper we considered the influence of different geometric parameters on the dynamics of convection flows. For it two experimental setups of different sizes were used. Measurements were done for fluids with different values of Prandtl number and heating powers. It was shown that the structure and intensity of mean flow producing by a horizontal temperature gradient are defined by Rayleigh number Ra. The basic flow leads to unstable temperature stratification over the heating area and the formation of a system of secondary flows. The formation of secondary flows depends on characteristics of thermal boundary layer and is described by local Rayleigh number Ra_δ.
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