ELM elimination with Li powder injection in EAST discharges using the tungsten upper divertor

We report the first successful use of lithium (Li) to eliminate edge-localized modes (ELMs) with tungsten divertor plasma-facing components in the EAST device. Li powder injected into the scrape-off layer of the tungsten upper divertor successfully eliminated ELMs for 3–5 s in EAST. The ELM elimination became progressively more effective in consecutive discharges at constant lithium delivery rates, and the divertor D α baseline emission was reduced, both signatures of improved wall conditioning. A modest decrease in stored energy and normalized energy confinement was also observed, but the confinement relative to H98 remained well above 1, extending the previous ELM elimination results via Li injection into the lower carbon divertor in EAST (Hu et al 2015 Phys. Rev. Lett. 114 055001). These results can be compared with recent observations with lithium pellets in ASDEX-Upgrade that failed to mitigate ELMs (Lang et al 2017 Nucl. Fusion 57 016030), highlighting one comparative advantage of continuous powder injection for real-time ELM elimination.