Copper-slag packed-bed TES - temperature measurements

This dataset contains temperature profiles measured during charging and discharging cycles of two packed-bed thermal energy storage (PBTES) configurations: an axial (A-PBTES) and a radial (R-PBTES) system. Both systems employ Chilean copper slag as the thermal storage medium and air as the heat transfer fluid (HTF). The A1 experiment corresponds to the axial configuration charged at 150 °C for 1.5 h, while the R4 experiment corresponds to the radial configuration charged at 300 °C for 3.0 h. The data show the spatiotemporal temperature evolution within each packed bed, captured by type-K thermocouples placed at different heights in the axial case and at multiple radial and axial positions in the radial case. These temperature fields illustrate the formation and movement of thermal fronts (thermoclines) during charging and discharging, allowing assessment of thermal stratification, energy storage capacity, and round-trip efficiency. In the axial configuration (A1), a clear thermocline develops along the flow direction, indicating effective stratification and a high recovery efficiency of approximately 93%. In the radial configuration (R4), higher temperatures occur near the core, resulting in a self-insulating effect and an energy recovery rate of approximately 74%. These datasets are valuable for validating heat-transfer and porous-media models for packed-bed systems, benchmarking computational fluid dynamics (CFD) or reduced-order simulations, and supporting the design optimization of thermal energy storage units that employ granular materials and industrial by-products.