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Mukuhira Lab
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The lab interprets underground rock masses in order to extract energy from them.
AboutAbout the lab
Understanding underground rock to extract energy.
The Mukuhira Lab studies the forces acting on underground rock masses, and the movement of fractures and fluids within the rock.
Combining rock mechanics and geophysics, the lab continues research related to the use of the subsurface, including energy development.
Its topics include methods of measuring crustal stress, geological storage of carbon dioxide, development of methane hydrate and shale, and geothermal development.
The lab aims to contribute to curbing global warming and to realizing a sustainable society.
Key terms
- Crustal stress
- The force acting on underground rock masses. It is essential for understanding earthquakes and volcanoes and for using the subsurface
- Hydraulic fracturing
- A method of injecting fluid from a well to create fractures in rock and increase its permeability
- Methane hydrate
- An ice-like solid in which water molecules enclose methane like a cage. It exists in sediments on the deep seafloor and elsewhere
NewsLab news
The Mukuhira Lab is launched, taking over from the Ito Lab
A paper on suppressing induced earthquakes with functional fluids, led by a former postdoc, is published in Geophysical Research Letters
ResearchResearch themes
The lab investigates the forces acting on underground rock masses, and the movement of fractures and fluids within them, through both experiments and numerical analysis. Its research relates to technologies for using the subsurface, such as measurement of crustal stress, geological storage of carbon dioxide, development of unconventional resources, and geothermal development.
*Illustrative imageMeasuring underground forces at depth
Crustal stress is the force acting on underground rock masses, and it is essential both for understanding earthquakes and volcanoes and for engineering use of underground space. At depths of several kilometers or more, conventional measurement methods cannot be used as they are, so the BABHY method, a new measurement method proposed by former Prof. Ito, has been tested successfully in an actual borehole at a depth of about 800 m.
*Illustrative imageConfining CO2 underground
Technology that separates and captures carbon dioxide emitted from large-scale sources such as power plants and factories and seals it in places isolated from the atmosphere is attracting attention. For geological storage, in which carbon dioxide is injected into an aquifer about 1,000 m underground that is covered by a gas-impermeable stratum, the lab is developing technology to repair leakage.
*Illustrative imageDrilling for methane hydrate
Methane hydrate is an ice-like solid in which water molecules enclose methane, and it is also found in sediments on the deep seafloor around Japan. It occurs in soft, muddy strata, where collapse of the drilled well is a concern, so the lab studies its behavior using laboratory hydraulic fracturing experiments and calculations with the discrete element method for granular materials.
*Illustrative imageMaking good use of geothermal energy
Geothermal energy is a renewable energy that emits no carbon dioxide and can generate power stably. When water is injected into the reservoir to maintain production, the rock cools and contracts and flow paths form, but the injection can also lower the temperature of the reservoir. The lab studies the behavior of the rock mass using finite element method calculations.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Mukuhira Lab are faculty members and students in the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs.As of 2025
- Associate ProfessorYusuke Mukuhira
VoicesStudent voices
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Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Mukuhira Lab
Shigeta-Sugimoto LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringFluid energy engineering
Muneoka LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringFluid energy engineering
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Morii LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringEnergy dynamics researchThe information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Geothermal drills near Taupo II” Ingolfson / Public domain (cropped)
- Measuring underground forces at depth: “Borehole Drilling Rig in Operation in North Yorkshire, Nov 2012” JonathanM17 / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Confining CO2 underground: “Red Trail Energy ethanol CO2 capture plant Richardton ND1” Acroterion / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Drilling for methane hydrate: “Gas Hydrates” U.S. Geological Survey / CC0 (cropped)
- Making good use of geothermal energy: “Geothermal Energy Plant” Jack Catalano / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Shigeta-Sugimoto Lab): “Plasma Cutter” Tim Drivas / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Muneoka Lab): “Nano-plasma” Al126 at wiki / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Maruta Lab): “ISS-65 Mark Vande Hei works on the Combustion Integrated Rack” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Morii Lab): “Iss072e456120 (Jan 13, 2025) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Nick Hague works in the Destiny laboratory module's Combustion Integrated Rack swapping samples of materials to observe how they burn i” NASA Johnson Space Center / Public domain (cropped)
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