It may be instructive to show how this transmutation was approached by an alchemist that is not an expert in cycles, but found 31 of them regardless.

In principle, both reagents could be used to create a 15-cycle machine, given a tight atomic schedule and perhaps advanced geometry. Using saltpeter alone could yield 31 cycles at best. For those with the gift of Hermes, the consideration is whether the 15-cycle machine is possible, because its penalties are steep for missing its minimum. Switching to saltpeter becomes tempting. But at my skill level, neither approach is tractible. Multiple pipelines? Animismus? No. Let us accept that cycles will be lost.

Instead, two units of charred sulfur can be bundled into one intermediate, relatively quickly, merging into a single pipeline quickly. Many of the inscrutable tools of cycle-optimization suddenly become unnecessary. From there, all I must do is bond, debond, and output, though the track loop is demanding Thankfully, one of the mandatory track advances can be made of use by back-to-back triplexes, and so useful work is done on every cycle of travel. Waste management and area compaction are comparatively simple.

- Alchemist Kazyan, in correspondence with Alchemist Jasper