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The lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system plays a crucial role in the mission of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) and is a prerequisite for reaching long pulse, high confinement plasmas on EAST [1, 2]. LHCD experiments and modelling [3] have been carried out on EAST in 2015-2016, with the aim to optimising EAST long pulse scenarios, and at the same time gain experience for the exploitation of WEST [4]. Experiments have been carried out to study the LH current drive efficiency in different plasma configurations (Upper Single Null and Lower Single Null). The effect of the gas feed location on the LH wave coupling was investigated by comparing gas fuelling from high field side, low field side and upper divertor. In view of long pulse H-mode scenarios, a series of H-mode experiments were conducted where all the heating power was provided by RF heating methods only, i.e. LHCD, ECRH and ICRH. H-modes were sustained in both Upper Single Null (W divertor) and Lower Single Null (carbon divertor) configurations, with loop voltage maintained as low as 50 mV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lower hybrid current drive efficiency on the EAST tokamak is estimated on a large database of low loop voltage discharges (VL<120mV) covering the 2016 campaign starting with lithium-free plasma facing components and ending with strong cumulated deposition of lithium. The efficiency is found to vary in a wide range from 0.6 to 1.2×1019A.W-1.m-2. No deleterious effect of the density on the efficiency is found between 2.3 and 3.2×1019m-3. The high efficiency occurs after strong lithium evaporation. The low effective charge Zeff and the higher temperature of these discharges, can account for the high efficiency according to the expected scaling with Zeff and . Modelling with a ray-tracing code coupled to a Fokker-Planck solver supports this result, assuming that the fast electron transport is reduced in the zero loop voltage discharge with high efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]