In order to understand the effects of density inversion parameter and Rayleigh number on the fluid motion and heat transfer characteristics of penetrative Rayleigh-Benard convection in a cylindrical container, a series of large eddy simulations were performed. The working fluid is cold water and Prandtl number is 11.57. Rayleigh number up to 10(11) is considered and the density inversion parameter ranges from 0 to 0.7. The results indicate that the effect of cold plumes on the larger scale circulation gradually diminishes and finally disappears with the increase of density inversion parameter. Furthermore, an increase of the temperature within the bulk region and a decrease of the penetration depth are also certified with the increase of density inversion parameter. With the increase of Rayleigh number, soft and hard turbulent states are successively observed. In the soft turbulence state, the evolution of Nusselt number shows a weak fluctuation, the corresponding histogram has a Gaussian distribution, and the penetration depth increases sharply with the increase of Rayleigh number. In the hard turbulence state, the evolution of Nusselt number presents a much stronger fluctuation than that in the soft turbulence state, the corresponding histogram fits more exponential distribution, and the variation of the penetration depth with Rayleigh number is small. A single power law between the heat transfer efficiency (Nusselt number) and Rayleigh number that covers soft and hard turbulence states is developed for each density inversion parameter. It is found that the average Nusselt number decreases linearly with the increase of density inversion parameter. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.