The ability to improve the heat transfer rate of a borehole can reduce the overall bore length requirements, resulting in lower system cost. An ability to seal the borehole with grout having a higher thermal conductivity is touted as a means to reduce ground heat exchanger length. The performance in an actual GSHP system of the heat transfer of standard bentonite grout and thermally enhanced grout has been monitored. Results show a 10% improvement in instantaneous heat transfer rate with 25% more integrated total heat exchange with the enhanced grout circuit.

Units: Dual