Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236

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Journal of Energy Storage

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Research Papers

Experimental evaluation of a high-temperature radial-flow packed bed

thermal energy storage under dynamic mass flow rate
Silvia Trevisan *, Wujun Wang, Rafael Guedez, Björn Laumert
Department of Energy Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Brinellvägen 68, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: High-temperature thermal energy storage is recognized to be a key technology to ensure future sustainable
Thermal energy storage energy generation. Packed bed thermal energy storage is a cost-competitive large-scale energy storage solution.
Packed bed The present work introduces the experimental investigation of an innovative 49.7 kWhth radial-flow type high-
Dynamic working conditions
temperature packed bed thermal energy storage under dynamic mass flow rates. Various dynamic air flow rate
Experimental characterization
profiles, representative of different potential applications, have been tested during the charging process to
High temperature
investigate their influence on the thermodynamic performance of the storage. The outlet thermal power during
the discharge has been controlled by managing the air flow rate. Short operational cycles have also been per­
formed. The results show that dynamic mass flow rates can lead to a thermal efficiency reduction between 0.5 %
and 5 % with respect to static conditions. Controlling the air mass flow rate could be an efficient strategy to
stabilize the thermal power output during the discharge while minimizing peaks in the pressure drop. This work
testifies that specific dynamic boundary conditions should be included during the thermal storage design process
since they could largely affect the unit thermodynamic performance and potential scale-up. If no specific dy­
namic profiles are available during the packed bed storage design stage, it is suggested to consider typical dy­
namic profiles of the air mass flow rate to guarantee limited efficiency reduction during operation.

Packed-bed sensible TESs store thermal energy by heating and

1. Introduction
Thermal energy storage (TES) provides the essential flexibility to
integrate high shares of renewable power in a stable, scalable, and
sustainable way [1]. Research, development, and investments in TES
could strengthen the energy infrastructure while driving short-term re­
covery and aligning the energy and industrial sector development with
the UN sustainability goals [2]. High-temperature thermal energy stor­
age could be essential in decarbonizing different hard-to-abate indus­
trial sectors. TES could permit to recover a large amount of waste heat
from energy-intensive industries enhancing their efficiency [3,4].
Similarly, TES could improve the electrification of the industrial sector,
enabling to store energy in its thermal form and maximizing the usage of
cheap renewable energy through load shift, whilst increasing the grid
flexibility and resilience. High-temperature TES is also recognized to be
a key component for long-duration energy storage [5], which is
considered one of the most important elements in the future energy
system granting an increased penetration of renewable energy [6,7].
cooling solid particles by means of a heat transfer fluid (HTF) that flows
through the beds [8]. Previous studies have shown that packed-bed TESs
can offer several advantages: cheap storing material; wide working
temperature range; direct heat transfer between the HTF and the storing
material; elevated chemical stability with limited degradation and
corrosion [9]. Air is one of the commonly used HTFs. Although air
suffers from its limited heat transfer capabilities, it ensures high safety,
low risk, and cost. In the published literature, several experimental
studies have been performed investigating the thermodynamic perfor­
mance of traditional cylindrical packed bed TES using air as the HTF.
Table 1 summarizes the key characteristics of the different experimental
facilities, the main working conditions, and performed type of tests
presented in the available literature. Of particular interest, Meier et al.
[10] built the first experimental high temperature packed bed TES, their
results have been widely used to validate different numerical models.
Okello et al. [11] studied the temperature degradation during dwell
periods for variable TES volumes. The outcomes of this study showed
higher thermal degradation in highly stratified TES. Al-Azawii et al.

Abbreviations: BC, Boundary conditions; BV, Butterfly valve; CAD, Computer aided design; CSP, Concentrating solar power; EH, Electric heater; HTF, Heat transfer
fluid; MFC, Mass flow controller; PRV, Pressure relief valve; SoC, State of charge; TC, Thermocouple; TES, Thermal energy storage; UR, Utilization rate.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: trevisan@kth.se (S. Trevisan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2022.105236
Received 25 April 2022; Received in revised form 10 June 2022; Accepted 28 June 2022
Available online 8 July 2022
2352-152X/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
S. Trevisan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236

Nomenclature ρ density [kg/m3]

τ time interval
Symbols
cp specific heat [J/(kg⋅K)] Subscripts
dp particle diameter [m] 0 initial
E energy [kWh] ch charge
h convective heat transfer coefficient [W/(m2⋅K)] cycle cycle
k thermal conductivity [W/(m⋅K)] disch discharge
ṁHTF air mass flow rate [kg/s] F fluid
nTC number of thermocouples i TC radial position index
nM number of measurements IN input
p pressure [mbar] j TC axial position index
Ptarget target thermal power output during TES discharge [kW] max maximum
r radial position [m] mid at intermediate radius
T temperature [◦ C] min minimum
tch length of charge phase [s] OUT output
tdisch length of discharge phase [s] ref reference
tdwell length of dwell phase [s] S solid
V volume [m3] sup superficial
TES,bottom at the TES bottom openings
Greek letters TES,top at the TES top opening
Δp pressure difference [mbar] th thermal
ζth temperature uniformity index tot overall
η efficiency
θ dimensionless temperature Superscripts
μ dynamic viscosity [Pa⋅s] t time

conditions, as highlighted in Table 1. Thermal cycles have been rarely

Table 1 included. Transient boundary conditions during charge and discharge
Packed bed TES main experimental works and the considered working boundary have been investigated only in a single previous work [13]. This work,
conditions. performed by Nicolas et al. [13], only considered a unique step change
Ref. Volume Working HTF mass Dynamic Thermal in the HTF mass flow rate or inlet temperature. These working condi­
[m3] temperatures flow rate [g/ BCs cycles tions are difficult to be representative of realistic transient working
[◦ C] s] conditions of real packed bed TES. The assumption of constant working
[10] 0.0212 150–550 4 No No conditions is far from the real TES operations, particularly if the TES is
[20] 0.178 25–800 125 No Yes installed in a CSP plant, where the TES acts as a buffer for managing the
[21] 0.098 25–640 10.6–20.8 No No fluctuating thermal power input [13,15]. Therefore, TES performance
[22] 0.0078 25–120 5.78–11.56 No No
assessment including constant boundary conditions might lead to
[11] 0.05–0.064 25–350 – No No
[23] 0.078 25–1000 18.8–36.4 No No misleading results and conclusions.
[24] 0.5 38–237 150 No No In this work, the first objective is to fill the highlighted literature gap
[12] 0.019 25–150 1.7–5.1 No Yes by experimentally investigating the influence of dynamic working con­
[13] 0.135 25–600 10.8–34.2 Yes Yes
ditions and cycles on the thermo-dynamic performance of a high-
[25] 0.04 25–650 13.4–22.4 No No
[14] 8.9 25–525 580–650 No Yes
temperature radial-flow packed bed TES. This experimental work also
[26] 0.019 21.5–150 3.21–5.78 No Yes aims to qualitatively verify the outcomes of a numerical investigation
including dynamic HTF mass flow rates previously presented by the
authors [16].
[12], while limiting the experiments at low temperature (150 ◦ C), Additionally, the present work provides further insights into the
investigated the influence of consecutive cycles and partial charge and performance of radial-flow packed bed TES. The authors have previ­
discharge cycles. The results highlighted a reduction of the exergy effi­ ously presented the initial performance assessment of the proposed
ciency with cycles due to the increase of the thermal dispersion. Nicolas radial-flow TES unit [17]. The potential of radial-flow packed bed TES
et al. [13] investigated the influence of non-constant boundary condi­ was originally proved by Daschner et al. [18], whose experimental re­
tions. In particular, they tested two charging scenarios, one with sults showed thermal efficiency as high as 95 % for short operation
degraded mass flow rate and one with reduced inlet temperature. Their cycles (10 to 20 min). The compromise between reduced pressure losses
results showed that thermocline TES could act as buffer for managing and increased conductive losses identified in radial flow packed bed TES
the instability of the resources. In particular, almost constant storage was instead highlighted by McTigue et al. [19]. These works also
energy yield and elevated load ratio were highlighted under non- pointed out the need for additional work and experimental in­
uniform flow rates during charge. Touzo et al. [14] tested an indus­ vestigations on high-temperature radial-flow packed bed TES. The pre­
trial scale cylindrical horizontal packed bed TES for three consecutive sented results and the performed tests show that dynamic mass flow
cycles, assessing also the radial temperature distribution. Their results rates negatively affect the thermal efficiency of packed bed TES with
showed that the discharge efficiency can be as high as 90 % and only reductions between 0.5 and 5 %. Air mass flow control is shown as an
moderate radial temperature non-uniformity has been observed. effective thermal power output control method during discharge.
Even though packed bed TESs have been widely investigated, there is Consecutive short charge and discharge cycles lead to decreasing charge
still a lack of experimental evaluations including dynamic working efficiency and increasing discharge efficiency, resulting in an initial

2
S. Trevisan et al.
increase and stabilization of the total thermal efficiency.
2. Radial-flow packed bed TES experimental set-up
The innovative radial-flow packed bed TES prototype has been
originally proposed and presented in a previous work by the authors
[17]. A CAD of the lab-scale prototype, including the main measurement
devices and the air flow paths during charge (red dotted line) and
discharge (blue dotted line), is shown in Fig. 1. The TES thermodynamic
behavior is monitored continuously through 56 K-type thermocouples
(TCs) (installed at different radial, vertical and angular positions), two
absolute pressure transducers, a differential pressure transducer, and
two Keithley® data loggers. The TCs distribution along one plane is
shown in Fig. 1, more details and the specific coordinates of each TC
have been provided in [17].
Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 show the TES laboratory integration and the main
auxiliary equipment. To enable consecutive thermal cycles, by reverting
the air flow between the charge and discharge phases, a piping system
including four butterfly valves (BV) has been designed and shown in
Fig. 2. To control charge and discharge conditions of the TES system, an
electrical heater (EH) and a mass flow controller (MFC) are also installed
along the main inlet pipe, as shown in Fig. 3. During the TES charge
process, BV1 and BV2 are opened while BV3 and BV4 are closed. The
inlet air flow is heated up to the designed temperature in the EH, and
then it flows to the inlet port at the top of the TES. The EH outlet tem­
perature is set to about 20 ◦ C more than the target TES inlet temperature
to compensate for the thermal losses occurring along with the piping
system. During the temperature ramping-up for the charge process, the
EH temperature settings are manually adapted and gradually increased
to cope with the EH limitations. As expected, faster EH temperature
increases are attained at the highest mass flow rates (case Base 0, Sun 1,
Peak 1); however, the time difference required to achieve a θTES, topequal
to 0.95 is maintained at around 20 % for all cases. During the discharge
process, BV3 and BV4 are opened while BV1 and BV2 are closed. Due to
this, the air flows through the EH, where it might be heated up if the
target temperature is higher than the ambient temperature. Then, air
reaches the four ports in the lower part of the tank, travels radially in­
ward, and exits from the top of the TES before reaching the central
ventilation system. The MFC enables to define the air mass flow rate and
to modify it during testing, by acting on a dedicated compressor. The EH
is made of up to four individual heating units (maximum 15 KWe per
unit) that can be operated independently depending on the air mass flow
rate, target outlet temperature, and heating power. The air flow tem­
perature at the outlet of the heater is measured by a dedicated K-type
thermocouple (Theater), and it is also the control variable for the EH's PID
Fig. 1. CAD of the TES prototype including main measurement units.
3
Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236
Fig. 2. CAD drawing of the TES tank, piping system, valves arrangement and
instruments.
controller. A pressure relief valve (PRV) is installed upstream of the EH
ensuring a maximum over-pressure in the piping system and TES of 0.3
bar, limiting the risks associated with the experimental setup.
3. Methodology
To evaluate the thermodynamic behavior of the packed bed TES
prototype under dynamic mass flow rates, eleven different representa­
tive cases have been defined and investigated, and specific information
is provided in Section 3.1. A set of pre-defined performance indicators
and non-dimensional criteria are also defined to compare the results
obtained under different working conditions, specific descriptions are
provided in Sections 3.2 and 3.3.
3.1. Dynamic HTF mass flow rate profiles
The main operational variables influencing the thermodynamic
behavior of the TES are the inlet air temperatures during both the charge
and discharge (TTES, ch and TTES, disch) processes and the air mass flow
rate, ṁair . As previously highlighted, in real TES applications, the TES
inlet air temperature is likely to be fixed based on the system charac­
teristics. Contrarily, since the TES often acts as a buffer, the air mass flow
rate is likely to vary during the operations. Therefore, the experimental
study presented in this work is focused on a variable ṁair . Additionally,
this choice permits limiting the influence of the rig thermal inertia,
which would largely smooth dynamic temperature profiles. The
considered working conditions, for charge and discharge processes and
cyclic operations, are explained in detail in paragraphs 3.1.1, 3.1.2, and
3.1.3, respectively. Their key aspects are also summarized in Table 2,
Table 3, and Table 4, respectively.
3.1.1. Charge process
To investigate the influence of dynamic boundary conditions, four
air mass flow rate profiles have been applied during the charge process,
as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4 shows the charge ṁair as measured during the
experimental evaluation. The key characteristics of the studied working
conditions are also summarized in Table 2. The packed-bed TES proto­
type is designed for the following working conditions: air mass flow rate
of 28.7 g/s, inlet air temperature equal to 600 ◦ C during charge and
25 ◦ C during discharge, and ambient pressure. These conditions and a 2
h charge process followed by 20 min dwell and 2 h discharge phase have
been considered as the Base 0 reference case. Base 1 and Base 2 have
been included as additional reference cases with constant boundary
conditions. In particular, the air mass flow rate applied in Base 1 is the
average value for both Sun 1 and Peak 1, guaranteeing comparability
while accounting for consistent energy inputs. Similarly, Base 2 presents
S. Trevisan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236

Fig. 3. Schematics of the complete TES laboratory rig including additional equipment.

Table 2
Key characteristics of the investigated different charge working conditions.
Case ṁair [g/s] TTES, ch [◦ C] Δtch [s] Number of ṁair peaks

Base 0 28.7 600 7200 0

Base 1 27.3 600 7200 0
Base 2 25.8 600 7200 0
Sun 1 25.83–28.7 600 7200 1
Sun 2 22.96–28.7 600 7200 1
Peak 1 25.83–28.7 600 7200 2
Peak 2 22.96–28.7 600 7200 2

Table 3
Key characteristics of the investigated different discharge working conditions.
Case TTES, disch [◦ C] Ptarget[kWth] Δtdischat Ptarget [s] ṁair [g/s]

Base 25 No No 28.7
Disch 1 25 11.75 3600 25.83–28.7
Disch 2 25 9.25 7200 22.96–28.7

Fig. 4. Air mass flow rate during charge for the base reference case and the four
Table 4 tested scenarios.
Key characteristics of the investigated different cyclic working conditions.
Case ṁair TTES Cycles Δtch Δtdisch Δtdwell, Δtdwell, 600 ◦ C. Cases Base 1, Sun 1, and Peak 1 have the same theoretical energy
[g/s] [◦ C] [s] [s] hot[s] cold[s] input during the whole charge process, and the same applies to cases
Base 28.7 25–600 1 7200 7200 1200 –
Base 2, Sun 2, and Peak 2. These charge processes have been followed by
Cycle 20 min dwell and a discharge phase with both ṁair and TTES, disch equal to
28.7 25–600 2 3600 3600 600 120
1 the design case (28.7 g/s and 25 ◦ C, respectively). The specific values of
Cycle the applied air mass flow rate during the charge process for the selected
28.7 25–600 4 1800 1800 600 120
2
cases are reported in Appendix A.

3.1.2. Discharge process

an air mass flow rate equal to the average of both cases Sun 2 and Peak 2.
Two cases, Sun 1 and Sun 2, are representative of a simplified typical
clear sky DNI profile [27], which might occur in CSP applications, with a
single peak in the middle of the charging process. A similar approach to
simulate CSP-related working conditions was presented and followed in
[28]. The two cases differ in the overall amplitude of air mass flow rate
variation, with a maximum air mass flow rate reduction, at the begin­
ning and end of the charge process, of 10 and 20 % with respect to the
base case for cases Sun 1 and Sun 2, respectively. In both cases, the air
mass flow rate has been modified every 10 min, resulting in the step-
wise profile shown in Fig. 4.
Two other cases, Peak 1 and Peak 2, are representative of more
fluctuating applications such as industrial TES deployment and Carnot
batteries for wind farm stabilization. They both show two peaks and a
central valley. They differ for the ṁair variation amplitude, with a
maximum reduction of 10 and 20 % with respect to the base case for
cases Peak 1 and Peak 2, respectively. In both cases ṁair has been
modified every 5 min, resulting in the step-wise profile shown in Fig. 4.
In all tests, the charge inlet air temperature was set to the design value of
The TES thermodynamic behavior has also been assessed including
dynamic boundary conditions during the discharge process. The key
characteristics of the studied discharge working conditions and the
specific base reference case are summarized in Table 3. In particular, the
aim of the two studied cases (Disch 1 and Disch 2) is to stabilize the TES
outlet thermal power at two target values, Ptarget, for 1 and 2 h, respec­
tively. In real TES applications, the discharge thermal power is a key
characteristic and it is likely to be controlled and adjusted depending on
the requirements of the downstream heat recovery unit or power loop.
The dynamic air mass flow rate, for each discharge test, has been
calculate as Eq. (1)
τ0 +5min
∑ Ptarget
( )
ctp Tout,ref
t − Tref
(1)
τ t=τ0
ṁair =
nτm
where, Ttout, ref is the time-dependent outlet air temperature during the
discharge process in the reference case, ctpis the temperature-dependent
air specific heat at Ttout, ref, Tref is a fixed reference temperature (assumed

4
S. Trevisan et al.
equal to 25 ◦ C), τ is each 5 min interval (considered step for the mass
flow adjustment) and nm is the number of measurement during each 5
min interval (equal to 30 based on the measurement capabilities of the
TES rig). The target thermal power values, Ptarget, have been fixed to
11.75 kWth and 9.25 kWth in Disch 1 and Disch 2, respectively. These
values are equivalent to about 70 % and 55 % of the maximum thermal
power recorded at the beginning of the discharge in the base case, equal
to about 16.8 kWth. These specific Ptarget values have been considered
representative of real case applications and are about 5 % higher than
the power delivered by the TES without any flow rate control after 1 and
2 h. The resulting air mass flow rates measured during the tests are
shown in Fig. 5 and also summarized in Table 3. Before operating these
discharge processes, the TES was charged as in the base case conditions
(ṁair equal to 28.7 g/s and air inlet temperature of 600 ◦ C) and a dwell
period of 20 min was elapsed. This ensures consistent conditions, within
the rig repeatability limits [17], at the beginning of the discharge and
therefore comparable results.
3.1.3. Thermal cycles
The TES thermodynamic performance has been investigated also
considering up to four consecutive shorter thermal cycles. The key
characteristics of the investigated cycle working conditions are sum­
marized in Table 4 and compared against the specific base reference
case. Two cyclic tests have been performed, keeping both air mass flow
rate and temperature boundary conditions equal to the design values
during both charge and discharge processes. The first cyclic test (Cycle
1) is made of two charge and discharge cycles, both charge, and
discharge phases last 1 h. The two high temperature dwell phases (after
charge and before discharge) last 10 min, while the low temperature
dwell phase (after discharge and before charge) lasts 2 min. A longer
dwell phase at high temperature has been investigated both in order to
evaluate the thermal losses during a longer period and to reduce the
effect of the thermal inertia of the hot piping of the rig during the sub­
sequent discharge phase. The second cyclic test (Cycle 2) is made of four
charge and discharge cycles, both charge, and discharge processes last
30 min. The dwell periods have been maintained similar to the ones
included in the first cyclic test. The overall energy input during the
charge processes for both cyclic tests is theoretically the same as for the
base case, guaranteeing comparability.
3.2. Tests comparability and repeatability
To ensure comparable fluid-dynamic and thermal conditions, the
Fig. 5. Air mass flow rate during discharge for the base reference case and the
two tested scenarios.
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Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236
Reynolds and Biot numbers have been calculated for all tested cases, and
are summarized in Table 5. The packed bed Reynold number expresses
the ratio between inertial and viscous forces in a flow, and it is defined as
[29]:
ρF usup dp
Re*mid = (2)
μF (1 − ε)
where usup is the air superficial velocity. Due to the radial-flow geome­
try, the TES cross-section increases with the TES radius causing a
decrease of the flow speed. Thus, the Reynold number is calculated at
the mid radius (Rmid = 230 mm). The air thermo-physical properties
have been evaluated at the average working temperature, equal to
312.5 ◦ C. In all studied cases Remid* is in the laminar and low Re*
transition flow range [30]. Accounting for the extreme operation,
considering the minimum and maximum operating temperatures and air
mass flow rates, the Reynold numbers are still within the low Re*
transition flow region (calculated Re* in the range 3.95–21.05) [30]. All
specific extreme values are reported in Appendix B. The Biot number,
defined as Bi = (h ⋅ dp)/(6ks) [31], indicates the ratio between the
convective and conductive thermal resistance. The convective heat
transfer coefficient between the HTF and the filler material, h, has been
evaluated by means of the correlation proposed by Coutier and Faber
[32]. This correlation has been obtained experimentally exploiting
various packed bed setups, thus is already includes minor phenomena.
For all investigated operations, Bi below 0.01 have been verified,
ensuring the validity of the lumped approach for the single packed bed
particles [33]. To further guarantee a proper comparison among the
different operating conditions, the repeatability of the TES laboratory
rig has been previously ensured [17].
3.3. Key performance indicators
To investigate the TES thermal performance, several KPIs have been
defined, investigated, and here summarized in Table 6. The dimen­
sionless fluid temperature θ, has been monitored at all the 56 TCs lo­
cations. θi. j stands for the TCs within the packed bed, however, the same
definition has been applied also for the EH, TES inlet, and outlet tem­
peratures. The TES reference temperature, Tref, has been fixed to 25 ◦ C.
The pressure drop introduced by the TES unit, ΔpTES, is directly
measured by the differential pressure transducer accounting also for the
flow direction change between charge and discharge operation.
The TES thermal power output during discharge has been calculated
as in Eq. (5) by considering Tref as the base low temperature (fixed to
25 ◦ C). The TES efficiency has been calculated during the single charge
and discharge phases, ηch and ηdisch, and for the complete cycle, ηtot, as
from Eqs. (6) to (8). The limited losses observed during dwell are
included and accounted for within the discharge efficiency formulation.
The additional formulas used to evaluate the energy content and flows
during operation are summarized in Appendix C. It should be noted that
in order to limit the influence of the rig thermal inertia the air tem­
perature at the top and bottom of the TES are considered, skipping the
rig sections mostly affected by thermal inertia (i.e. EH and piping).
The temperature uniformity index, ζth, shows the uniformity of the
temperature along the vertical direction. Its definition is based on the
statistical mean square error among the five TCS on each probe, as in Eq.
(9). ζth is time-dependent, however, average values can be calculated for
each radial TC probe during each operational phase and cycle.
The state of charge (SoC) of the TES has been evaluated as the ratio of
the stored energy to the maximum storable energy, Eq. (10). The TES
utilization factor, SUF, defined in Eq. (11), shows the ratio between the
utilized storage capacity and the maximum one for each operation cycle.
S. Trevisan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236

Table 5
Main parameters and non-dimensional characteristic numbers for the packed bed TES during the different cases.
Param. Sun 1 Sun 2 Peak 1 Peak 2 Disch 1 Disch 2

ṁair [g/s] [25.83–28.7] [22.96–28.7] [25.83–28.7] [22.96–28.7] [21.1–28.7] [11.56–28.7]

2 2 2 2 2 2
usup [m/s] [5.95–6.61]⋅10− [5.28–6.61]⋅10− [5.95–6.61]⋅10− [5.28–6.61]⋅10− [4.86–6.61]⋅10− [2.66–6.61]⋅10−
Remid* [11.55–12.83] [10.27–12.83] [11.55–12.83] [10.27–12.83] [9.43–12.83] [5.17–12.83]
Bi [8.9–9.6]⋅10− 3 [8.1–9.6]⋅10− 3 [8.9–9.6]⋅10− 3 [8.1–9.6]⋅10− 3 [7.6–9.6]⋅10− 3 [4.8–9.6]⋅10− 3

flow rate is lower. Then, between 30 and 90 min, θ increases more

Table 6
rapidly and it even reaches the same values as for the base case.
Considered KPIs to compare the TES performance at the different operating
Contrarily, for case Peak 2, particularly visible in TC2, a more rapid
conditions.
increase of θ is observed during the first 30 min. Then, after the first hour
Parameter Definition Unit Ref.
of charge the slope decreases. These changes in the temperature profile
Dimensionless affect the three inner TCs, and they occur first at TC1, then at TC2, and
fluid Ti.j − Tref (1) [− ]
θi.j =
TTES,ch − Tref
[34] later at TC3. The delay, with respect to the change in ṁair , in TC2 and
temperature
Pressure drop ΔpTES = |pTES, − pTES,
TC3, is mainly due to the TES thermal inertia and the fact that part of the
top bottom| (2) [mbar] –
Discharge thermal energy has transferred to the packed bed during crossing the
inner section of the packed bed before reaching these thermocouples.
( )
thermal Pth,out = ṁair cp TTES,top − Tref (3) [− ] [35]
power The outer TCs (TC4 and TC5) reach dimensionless temperatures lower
EtTES /EIN, ch (4)
than 0.2 and are not influenced by the air mass flow rate profile since the
ch
ηch =
Thermal ηdisch = (EOUT, disch − EIN, disch)/EtTES
ch
(5)
efficiency ηtot = ηch ⋅ ηdisch = (EOUT, disch − EIN,
[− ] [9] thermocline region does not reach that section of the packed bed. It
(6) should be noted that the flow bypass highlighted in the previous char­
disch)/EIN, ch
Temperature √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
1 ∑5 ( t )̅
t 2
acterization work of the TES prototype [17] and further discussed in the
uniformity Ti.j − Ti (7) [− ] next sections, causes TC5 to be slightly higher than TC4 during the first
5 j=1 [36]
index ζtth,TCi.j = 1 −
Ti
t
1.5 h of charge.
SoCt =
E t
TES
=
Fig. 7(a) shows the temperature uniformity index during the whole
State of charge ETES,max (8) [− ] cycle together with the different TC probes for six investigated cases. All
[37]
EtTES
( ) ( ) ∑5 ∑5 cases show ζthabove 0.95 for TC1 and TC2 confirming elevated tem­
ρcp eff TTES,ch − TTES,0 j=1 Vi.j
Storage ∑5 ∑5 (
i=1
) perature uniformity along the vertical axis for the inner section of the
tch tdisch
utilization i=1 V
j=1 i.j T i.j − T i.j (9) [− ] [38] TES. For TC3 temperature uniformity indexes in the range 0.79–0.84
SUF = ( )
factor VTES TTES,ch − Tref have been measured. Worse uniformities are observed for the TES outer
section, TC4 and TC5. Particularly, the influence of dynamic air mass
flow rates is more relevant in the TES outer region, with the cases
4. Results and discussion including dynamic BCs showing lower ζth than the corresponding Base
case. Additionally, air mass flow rate profiles with wider fluctuations
4.1. Dynamic air mass flow rate during charge (Sun 2 and Peak 2, which are characterized by a Δṁair = ± 2.87 g/s)
show lower ζth than cases with limited fluctuations (Sun 1 and Peak 1,
Fig. 6 shows the air dimensionless temperature profile at the mid- which are characterized by a Δṁair = ± 1.43 g/s). Indeed, higher ṁair
height (TCx.3) of the TES during the 2 h of charge for the Base 0 case gradients cause higher by-pass flow in the TES top region. This by-pass
and cases Sun 2 and Peak 2. Different rates of temperature increase can flow is caused by the higher porosity in the top part of the TES prototype,
be identified for TC1, TC2, and TC3. These slopes are affected by the air as highlighted in [17]. A lower by-pass flow reduces the temperature
mass flow rate and the energy input. For case Sun 2, the slowest tem­ increase in the top outer region of the TES, enabling higher ζth at TC4
perature increments are recorded in the first 30 min, when the air mass and TC5. Additionally, an increased number of fluctuations (peaks and
valleys) of ṁair , as in Peak cases with respect to the Sun cases, causes
lower uniformity indexes. Specifically, ζth values at both TC4 and TC5
are lower for the Peak cases than for the Sun ones.
Fig. 7(b) summarizes the thermal efficiency measured during
different tests for the single charge and discharge phases as well as for
the complete thermal cycles. As expected from the numerical results
previously presented by the authors [16], the dynamic air mass flow
rates have negative effects on the TES total thermal efficiency: the
higher the fluctuations (Peak cases) the lower the total thermal effi­
ciency. The highest ηch, of about 77 %, are recorded for cases Sun 2 and
Peak 2 and are mostly caused by the lower energy input, and limited
thermal losses at the TES outlet. The minimum charging efficiency,
equal to about 72 %, is observed for case Sun 1. At the end of the charge
process in both Sun and Peak cases, wider thermocline spreads are
recorded. Particularly, the latter factor causes the reduction of ηdisch
measured under dynamic BCs. These observations lead to a total effi­
ciency reduction under dynamic air mass flow rates between 0.5 and 5 %
with respect to the base cases considering static BCs. A minimum ηtot of
about 59 % is recorded for both cases Sun 2 and Peak 2. The obtained
results confirm the numerical-based conclusions presented by the au­
thors in [16], where dynamic inlet mass flow rate during charge led to a
Fig. 6. Dimensionless air temperature profile during charge at TES mid
total efficiency average reduction of about 5 %. Also, it can be observed
height (TCx.3).

6
S. Trevisan et al.
Fig. 7. (a) Uniformity indexes during the charge process under dynamic air mass flow rates; (b) TES thermal efficiency during charge, discharge, and the whole cycle
under dynamic air mass flow rates.
that lower energy inputs during the charge process followed by a
discharge process at design conditions, represented by cases 2 with
respect to cases 1, cause lower ηtot. This total efficiency reduction is
caused mainly by lower discharge efficiencies, which in turn are caused
by a less effective heat transfer within the packed bed at lower SoC.
4.2. Air mass flow rate control during discharge
During the discharge process, the air mass flow rate has been
controlled in order to provide constant thermal power. Fig. 8(a) shows
the measured thermal power at the TES outlet during the three per­
formed tests, and the target power for cases Disch 1 and Disch 2. Spe­
cifically, the continuous curves show the calculated outlet thermal
power from the measured data, the dotted lines present the fixed Ptarget,
while the shaded area shows a range of ±6.5 % around the target power
output. The jagged behavior for the Disch 1 and Disch 2 curves is caused
by the air mass flow rate control, which adjusts the flow rate every 5
min, not continuously. During the base case, the provided thermal
power has high variability, with an initial peak and a sudden decrease.
This variability might negatively affect the performance of a down­
stream heat recovery unit or power generation loop. Contrarily, in both
Disch cases, the thermal power output is maintained, for 1 or 2
consecutive hours, within a ± 6.5 % fluctuation range around the target
Fig. 8. (a) Thermal power at the outlet of the TES during discharge; (b) dimensionless air outlet temperature during discharge.
7
Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236
value. The decrements of the thermal power output, caused by the ṁair
control occurring every 5 min, are limited to less than 300 Wth, which is
equivalent to about 2.5 % of the target power. Thus, they are considered
to be acceptable and manageable by the downstream heat recovery unit.
Fig. 8(b) presents the effect of the air mass flow rate management on
the air outlet temperature, θTES, top. At the beginning of the discharge
process, a higher θ peak is obtained in the base case, which is mainly
caused by the higher air mass flow rate. Later, during the first hour of
discharge limited differences are recorded between the Base case and
case Disch 1. Case Disch 1 presents a TTES, top decrease rate of 1.69 ◦ C/
min, equal to about 95.7 % of the values recorded during the Base test
(1.78 ◦ C/min). Larger differences can be highlighted for Disch 2, where
the lower ṁair leads to limited temperature decrements. A TTES, top
decrease rate of 1.56 ◦ C/min is measured, leading to a TTES, top about
20 ◦ C higher than the one recorded in the Base case at the end of the 2 h
long discharge period. The attained higher air outlet temperature might
also ensure a further extension of the discharge period, particularly,
when the downstream heat recovery device imposes strict cut-off tem­
peratures. Thus, the tested ṁair control method is effective in controlling
the thermal power output and maintaining higher air temperatures at
the TES outlet.
Additionally, Fig. 9 (a) shows the influence of the air mass flow rate
control over the pressure drop introduced by the TES and its time-
S. Trevisan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236

Fig. 9. (a) Air mass flow rate and pressure drop during discharge process under quasi-dynamic boundary conditions; (b) Fan energy consumption during
discharge process.

dependent profile. In the Base case, a peak of the pressure drop is

observed at the beginning of the discharge. This is caused by the higher
temperature of the TES media and the higher air mass flow rate (causing
lower density and higher flow velocity, leading to higher pressure drops,
as from [39]). Contrarily, in both Disch 1 and Disch 2 cases, the initial
pressure drop peak is avoided, and the introduced ΔpTES is more uniform
during the whole discharge phase. For case Disch 1, the measured
pressure drop during the first hours (time interval with mass flow rate
control) is constant (within measurement error). For case Disch 2, the
measured pressure drop is almost constant for the first hour, then it
slowly increases during the second hour under mass flow rate control.
This specific behavior might be due to the higher temperature in the TES
during the second hour of discharge in Disch 2 (as testified by the higher
outlet temperature shown in Fig. 8(b)), causing lower fluid density and
higher viscosity, leading to higher pressure drops. In particular, for a 2 h
discharge phase, the Base case presents an average ΔpTES of 0.468 mbar
and variability of ±80 %, meaning that a peak pressure drop of about
0.86 mbar is recorded at the beginning of the discharge process. For
cases Disch 1 and Disch 2, the measured average pressure drops are
Fig. 10. Uniformity indexes and total TES thermal efficiency during the com­
equal to 0.35 and 0.3 mbar with a variability of ±35 % and ± 20 %, plete thermal cycle under dynamic boundary conditions.
respectively. Fig. 9(b) shows the energy consumption of the fan to
overcome the pressure drop measured in the different tests (assuming a
4.3. Thermal cycles
fan efficiency of 0.7). Disch 1 and Disch 2 lead to an auxiliary energy
consumption reduction of 31 % and 49 % with respect to the Base case,
The TES prototype thermal performance has been tested under two
respectively. The highlighted influence of the air mass flow control on
and four consecutive shorter charge and discharge cycles. Fig. 11 shows
the TES pressure drop and relative auxiliary consumptions could be of
the dimensionless air temperature at TES top and bottom (average
particular relevance for the TES scaling-up. Indeed, increasing the TES
among bottom A, B, C, and D) locations and the SoC development during
size, volume, and air mass flow rate would lead to a higher ΔpTES, and a
the cycles. The TES top temperature increases up to 1 during the charge
limitation strategy for the auxiliary consumptions could be valuable.
phases. Its increase rate is affected by the EH ramp-up procedure as well
The air mass flow rate control during discharge also affects the
as the rig's thermal inertia. Similarly, the system thermal inertia affects
uniformity of the temperature distribution within the TES and the
the TES bottom temperature during the discharge process, which pre­
thermal efficiency, as shown in Fig. 10. Both Disch 1 and Disch 2 show
sents an initial peak, caused by the high temperature of piping and EH,
higher ζth at all TC probes, and particularly in the TES outer region. The
followed by a decreasing trend. θTES, bottom increases almost linearly
higher temperature uniformity along the TES vertical axis is caused by
during the charge processes and higher values are recorded during the
the limited ṁair , which guarantees lower bypass flows in the TES top and
later cycles. Similarly, θTES, topdecreases almost linearly during the
bottom region. However, a reduction of the total thermal efficiency is
discharge process. Decreasing absolute slopes of the θTES, top reduction
recorded for both Disch 1 and Disch 2, considering a 2 h long discharge
during discharge are recorded for later cycles, enabling higher air outlet
process. Specifically, reductions of ηtot of 3.7 % and 6.8 % are observed
temperatures and flatter θTES, top profiles. Both behaviors observed for
for Disch 1 and Disch 2, respectively. Indeed, the ṁair management en­
θTES, bottom and θTES, top are mainly caused by the increase of the TES SoC
ables to control the power output, but, overall, a lower amount of energy
during the consecutive cycles.
is recovered from the TES. This can be observed also by integrating the
The SoC increase is due to a discharge efficiency that is lower than
power profiles shown in Fig. 8(a).
the charge efficiency during the first cycles, as shown in Fig. 12. This

8
S. Trevisan et al.
Fig. 11. TES dimensionless top and bottom air temperature during cyclic operation.
Fig. 12. TES charge, discharge, and total thermal efficiency and storage utili­
zation factor during consecutive short cycles.
mismatch means that a lower amount of the effectively stored energy
during charge is recovered during the following discharge. This phe­
nomenon occurs during the first 1 h cycle in the first cyclic test, and
during the first two 30 min cycles in the second test. During the later
cycles, the TES discharge efficiency increases since part of the remaining
energy from the previous cycles can be extracted. Additionally, the ef­
ficiency of the charging process decreases since, at higher SoC, the
thermal losses at the TES outlet become more relevant. These combined
effects enable an increase of the TES total efficiency over the cycles, as
shown in Fig. 12. Particularly, for the four consecutive 30 min cycles, the
first cycle registered a total thermal efficiency of about 51.4 %, the
following cycles enable an increase of +17.9 % leading to a ηtot equal to
69.3 % for the fourth cycle.
Fig. 13 shows the dimensionless air temperature along the TES radial
direction at mid-height at the end of the charge and discharge process
for the consecutive cycles. The shaded area qualitatively indicates the
utilization factor of the TES, similarly, the SUF is also indicated in
Fig. 12. The widest temperature change between charge and discharge is
visible in the inner part of the TES (TC1 at a radius equal to 100 mm).
Due to the limited SoC reached at each cycle, lower temperatures and
limited θ changes are visible at TC2 and TC3 (radius equal to 160 and
9
Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236
240 mm, respectively). However, in the inner region of the TES (up to a
radius of about 260 mm) an effective storage process is obtained with
temperatures at the end of the charge process higher than at the end of
the discharge phase. A different behavior is highlighted for the outer
region of the TES, with temperatures at the end of the discharge process
higher than the ones measured at the end of the charge phase. This
particular trend can be explained by the previously observed [17] non-
uniform porosity distribution, with small void sections in the upper
inner part of the TES, which causes by-pass flow and higher tempera­
tures in the upper-outer section (TC 5.1, TC 5.2, TC 4.1, and TC 4.2).
These higher outer top temperatures occur during the charge processes,
reaching their maximum at the end of the charge. Then, during the
subsequent dwell and discharge processes, thermal diffusion occurs,
causing a decrease of θTC5.1 (as well as θTC5.2, θTC4.1, and θTC4.2) and a
heat transfer towards the lower sections of the TES. This phenomenon
causes the increment of θTC5.3 and θTC4.3, highlighted by the red trape­
zius in Fig. 13.
5. Conclusions
In this work, the experimental investigation of an innovative 49.7
kWhth radial-flow high-temperature packed-bed thermal energy storage
system under dynamic air mass flow rates has been presented. The
storage performance has been investigated by considering various dy­
namic mass flow rate profiles during the charge phase, representative of
different potential high temperature TES applications. The air mass flow
rate has been controlled during the discharge phase in order to provide
constant thermal power output for extended time periods. Finally, short
operational cycles have been performed and assessed against base case
working conditions. From the experimental results discussed, the
following main conclusions can be drawn:
1. Variable air mass flow rates during the charge process negatively
affect the TES performance, causing a reduction between 0.5 % and
5 % of the TES total thermal efficiency.
2. If expected and known specific dynamic HTF mass flow rate profiles
should be accounted for during the packed bed TES design
procedure.
3. The air mass flow rate could be effectively controlled to maintain a
lowered but constant thermal power output during the discharge
process. However, this strategy might cause a reduction of up to 7 %
in the TES thermal efficiency.
4. The air mass flow rate control during discharge could also limit the
TES pressure drop, particularly the peak registered at the beginning
S. Trevisan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236

Fig. 13. Dimensionless fluid temperature along the TES radius and at TES mid height at the end of the single charge and discharge phases for the different
consecutive cycles.

of the discharge phase. This effect could further facilitate the packed
bed TES upscaling.
5. Consecutive short thermal cycles show decreasing charge efficiency
and increasing discharge efficiency. After four 30 min cycles, the
charge efficiency decreases by about 18 %, but the discharge effi­
ciency increases by more than 35 % with respect to the first cycle.
Their combined effect leads to an increase and stable TES total
thermal efficiency of about 70 %.
in axial flow packed bed TES is also recommended to investigate and
confirm the applicability of the outcomes provided by this work.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.

Future work will assess the influence of combined dynamic charge
and discharge profiles, while implementing specific improvements of
the TES prototype to limit the non-uniformity of the porosity distribu­
tion within the TES, minimizing its negative impact and maximizing the
TES performance. Segmented and layered TES geometries will be
investigated together with the exploitation of different filler materials,
such as natural rocks and steel or copper slags. In-depth numerical an­
alyses will be also performed to fully describe the qualitatively observed
non-uniform porosity distribution and its influence on the TES ther­
modynamic behavior. Testing of the proposed air mass flow rate profiles
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgment
This research has been funded by the Swedish Energy Agency and
Azelio AB through the Energy Agency program Electricity from the Sun,
project P43284-1. The authors also thank Leif Pettersson and Emil
Lindström for their essential contribution to the lab work.

Appendix A
Table A
Dynamic air mass flow rates during different investigated cases.

ṁHTF Charge [g/s] ṁHTF Discharge [g/s]

Time [min] Sun 1 Sun 2 Peak 1 Peak 2 Disch 1 Disch 2

0–5 25.830 22.960 21.1 16.6

25.830 22.96
5–10 26.404 24.108 21.7 17.1
10–15 26.978 25.256 22.3 17.5
26.404 24.108
15–20 27.552 26.404 23.0 18.1
20–25 28.126 27.552 23.7 18.7
26.978 25.256
25–30 28.700 28.700 24.5 19.3
30–35 28.700 28.700 25.4 20.0
27.552 26.404
35–40 28.126 27.552 26.3 20.7
40–45 27.552 26.404 27.1 21.4
28.126 27.552
45–50 26.978 25.256 28.0 22.1
50–55 26.404 24.108 28.6 22.5
28.700 28.700
55–60 25.83 22.96 28.7 22.8
60–65 25.83 22.96 28.7 23.1
28.700 28.700
65–70 26.404 24.108 28.7 23.5
70–75 26.978 25.256 28.7 24.0
28.126 27.552
75–80 27.552 26.404 28.7 24.3
80–85 28.126 27.552 28.7 24.9
27.552 26.404
85–90 28.700 28.700 28.7 25.4
(continued on next page)

10
S. Trevisan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236

Table A (continued )
ṁHTF Charge [g/s] ṁHTF Discharge [g/s]

Time [min] Sun 1 Sun 2 Peak 1 Peak 2 Disch 1 Disch 2

90–95 28.700 28.700 28.7 26.0

26.978 25.256
95–100 28.126 27.552 28.7 26.4
100–105 27.552 26.404 28.7 27.0
26.404 24.108
105–110 26.978 25.256 28.7 27.6
110–115 26.404 24.108 28.7 28.4
25.830 22.96 28.7
115–120 25.830 22.960 28.7

Appendix B
Table B.1
Biot number, average, minimum and maximum Reynolds number within the packed bed
during the different Base tests.

Param. Base 0 Base 1 Base 2

− 3 − 3 3
Bi 9.6⋅10 9.2⋅10 8.9⋅10−
Re* 12.83 12.19 11.55
Remin* 9.81 9.32 8.83
Remax* 21.05 20.00 18.94

Table B.2
Minimum and maximum Reynolds number within the packed bed during the different tests including dynamic mass flow rates.

Param. Sun 1 Sun 2 Peak 1 Peak 2 Disch 1 Disch 2

Remin* 8.82 7.84 8.82 7.84 7.21 3.95

Remax* 21.05 21.05 21.05 21.05 21.05 21.05

Appendix C

The energy input and output from the TES during both charge and discharge have been calculated as from Eqs. (12) to (15)
tch
∑ ( )
EIN,ch = ṁt cp Ttop,TES
t
− Tref Δtt (10)
t=0

tch
∑ ( )
(11)
t
EOUT,ch = ṁt cp T bottom,TES − Tref Δtt
t=0

tdisch
∑ ( )
(12)
t
EIN,disch = ṁt cp T bottom,TES − Tref Δtt
t=tdisch − tdwell

tdisch
∑ ( )
EOUT,disch = ṁt cp Ttop,TES
t
− Tref Δtt (13)
t=tdisch − tdwell

where Δtt is the time step between each couple of consecutive measurements, while tch, tdwell, and tdisch are the ending time for charge, dwell and
discharge, respectively. The energy stored in the TES, is calculated as
[ ( t )]
( ) ∑5 ∑ 5 t
Ti,jA + Ti,jB
t
ETES = ρcp eff Vi,j − TTES,0 (14)
i=1 j=1
2

where (ρcp)eff is the effective heat capacity of the filler material, Vi, j are the 25 annular control volumes (sketched in Fig. B), and TTES, 0is the initial TES
average temperature. This formulation considers a uniform temperature within each control volume and neglects the temperature difference between
the solid and fluid. Both simplifications have been considered acceptable since the control volumes are small (in the range from 3⋅10− 3 to 14⋅10− 3 m3)
and the temperature difference between fluid and solid particles has been shown to be limited [8].

11
S. Trevisan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 54 (2022) 105236

Fig. B. TES volume discretization scheme.

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