Based on the closest packing principle of the crystal structure, three configurations of the spheres in cylindrical packed beds are presented in this study: aligned density layer (ADL), face-centered cubic (FCC), and hexagonal closest packed (HCP). Both numerical simulations and experimental tests are conducted to study the flow and heat transfer characteristics of these packing patterns with Reynolds numbers ranging from 1 to 200. The results show that at a constant flow rate of 100 L/h, the charge durations of FCC and HCP packing are shorter by 27.8 % and 20.8 %, respectively, than those of ADL packing. Additionally, the potential PCM packing density for FCC and HCP layouts is increased by 42.3 %, which significantly reduces the packed bed's footprint. Considering both heat transfer and pressure drop, the FCC packing layout achieves the highest overall evaluation factor of 1.19, followed by HCP and ADL packing. Finally, a self-defined normalized charging efficiency factor of βcharge which considers the cooling capacity storage at the cost of pump hydraulic power is proposed, and the value of βcharge for FCC is the best (34.7 % higher than that of ADL), followed by HCP (22.8 % higher than that of ADL).