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Murakami-Higashi Lab
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The lab works to make ironmaking carbon neutral.
AboutAbout the lab
Making ironmaking environmentally friendly
The Murakami-Higashi Lab studies how to reduce the environmental impact of the processes used to produce basic metal materials, including steel.
Its main theme is making smelting, which relies on high-temperature processes, carbon neutral.
The lab clarifies how raw materials degrade inside the furnace when iron is made with hydrogen, and searches for ways to suppress that degradation.
It also conducts materials processing research, such as manufacturing technologies for porous metals and the development of self-healing materials.
Key terms
- Smelting
- A process that treats ore at high temperature to extract the target metal
- Carbon neutrality
- Balancing the carbon dioxide emitted and the carbon dioxide absorbed so that the net amount is zero
- Agglomerate
- Iron ore that cannot be used as a powder, consolidated into lumps of a size that can be charged into a blast furnace
NewsLab news
Prof. Murakami received the Chairman's Award at the Steel Foundation for Environmental Protection Technology's Environmental Grant Achievement Awards
An undergraduate student received an Encouragement Award in the Student Poster Session at the Spring Meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan
A master's student received an Encouragement Award in the Student Poster Session at the Spring Meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan
A master's student received the Research Presentation Encouragement Award at the Ironmaking Science and Technology Consortium
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies how to reduce the environmental impact of smelting, which uses high-temperature processes, for basic metal materials such as steel that have wide-ranging ripple effects. It also works on materials processing, including manufacturing technologies for porous metals and the development of self-healing materials.
*Illustrative imageIron Ore Agglomerates for Hydrogen-Based Ironmaking
Making iron with hydrogen requires clarifying how raw materials degrade inside the furnace and finding ways to suppress that degradation. The lab is developing raw materials (agglomerates) that are resistant to turning into powder or sticking to one another.
*Illustrative imageCarbon-Recycling Ironmaking Process
The lab is developing a new carbon-recycling ironmaking method that captures the gas emitted by the ironmaking process, reforms it into solid carbon, and reuses it.
*Illustrative imageLow-Carbon Operation and Quality Improvement of Sintering Machines
Sintering machines are used in the step that consolidates the raw materials fed into blast furnaces. The lab develops operating methods that use less carbon and works to improve product quality.
*Illustrative imageMaking Use of High-Phosphorus Iron Ore
The lab is developing ways to make effective use of iron ore with a high phosphorus content, which will need to be used in the future. As the phosphorus in iron ore increases, the cost of the dephosphorization step and the amount of slag also increase, which is the challenge.
MembersFaculty
The Murakami-Higashi Lab consists of faculty members, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, students from the Nippon Steel collaborative chair, and administrative staff.As of 2026
- ProfessorTaichi Murakami
- Assistant ProfessorRyota Higashi
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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: “DSC06457 Blast Furnace 4, voestalpine Leoben-Donawitz, 2026” Aciarium / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Iron Ore Agglomerates for Hydrogen-Based Ironmaking: “Iron ore pellets from Kiruna” JIP | Talk / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Carbon-Recycling Ironmaking Process: “Activated Carbon” Ravedave (talk) / CC BY 2.5 (cropped)
- Low-Carbon Operation and Quality Improvement of Sintering Machines: “DSC06508 Sinter Plant and Blast Furnace Social Building, voestalpine Leoben-Donawitz, 2026-06” Aciarium / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Making Use of High-Phosphorus Iron Ore: “Hematite-rich iron ore (Precambrian; Pioneer Mine, Ely, Minnesota, USA) 1” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Miki-Saito Lab): “Blast furnaces at Scunthorpe Steelworks - geograph.org.uk - 5844975” Gareth James / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Kato Lab): “Metalic Glas Vitreloy4” Björn Gojdka / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Takamura-Ishii Lab): “Cerium dioxide sample” Leiem / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Orimo Lab): “Sodium-borohydride-3D-balls” CCoil (talk) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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