This investigation studied the packed bed thermal energy storage system with concrete and air used as the energy storage material and working fluid respectively. Three different configurations of packed bed arrangements such as regular ring, staggered ring and staggered ring with clearance are studied. The temperature distribution outcome of the experimental values compared with three-dimensional transient based computational simulation. The flow influencing parameters such as pressure drop, turbulence intensity, design of packed beds, the surface area of packed beds, the void fraction of the system discussed. Experimental results are in excellent agreement with simulation results. It is observed that staggered ring arrangement with the clearance for packed bed have better charging and discharging profile compared to the other two arrangements. © IMechE 2021.