Previous experimental results indicated that smaller crystals produced less heat per unit mass than large crystals, and the new crystal samples also exhibited the same trend. Glass exhibits almost none of the mana insulative properties that full quartz crystals exhibit, despite both being silicon dioxide. So the first new experiment I wanted to run was determining if this also occurs with fluorite.
It did form into a glass, which was roughly the same color as the initial crystals, however, it was quite brittle. The chunk as a whole barely produced any heat, even when large amounts of mana were pushed into it via tectonic sense. As disappointing as that was, it lent more credence to the idea that the mana related properties that some crystals exhibit is an emergent property of the size of the crystal. Glasses are basically amorphous solids, with only the tiniest of crystals present in their structure.
For my next experiment, I sanded down one surface on one of the larger crystals, leaving it with a flat edge. I then retested the properties of the crystal, to see if it produced a proportional amount of heat to it's new mass, or if it made less than that. Basically, I was concerned if the mana related properties of the crystal were affected by the smallest plane within the crystal, or just the general size. If it's the smallest plane, then having one side sanded down would considerably reduce the performance of the crystal, more than expected from the small loss in mass. Thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case.
This means I could, in theory, sand down crystals to tesselate, letting me fill a space with them. Rather than continuing that test with fluorite, I have excess quartz that could prove useful. It's much harder to test the quartz properties in this way, since absence of mana is harder to detect than existence. Though if it works, I can considerably reduce the volume of our freezers while simultaneously increasing their effectiveness. Quartz, however, is much harder than fluorite, and processing it will be much harder as well.
Basically, the only way we'll be able to cut quartz is to use a sand made from quartz, which we repeatedly drag along with a blade in order to cut quartz crystals down. The big issue with the current crystals is that they're tapered to different degrees, and they're different sizes. If we can cut them into rectangular prisms, then we can use them much more effectively for mana insulation, even if we weaken the property slightly for each individual crystal.
I'll do a test run to see if I can cut one. If I can, I'll design some tools so that I can set some goblins to mass producing quartz blocks that we can use.
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It actually ended up being somewhat hard to devise a way to cut quartz without breaking them. The first few days were full of attempts using crude hand tools. Ultimately, I settled on an abrasive disc covered in quartz sand that was hooked in to a foot pedal to spin up to a high speed. Using that, I could get the disc rotating fast enough to make cuts into the quartz crystals, eventually cutting bits off and shaping them into rectangular prisms.
Since we then had a working method for cutting the quartz, the next step was to sort our larger quartz crystals into particular size categories, and settle on some standard sizes for rectangular prisms. If my hypothesis holds true, then larger quartz crystals will have a better mana insulative effect than smaller ones, even if stacked to the same shapes. So, for an initial trial, I devised two sizes of rectangular prisms to be made. One was twice the size of the other in each dimension, meaning each crystal would have eight times the volume.
After deciding on two trial sizes, I went to the north side of the city, and started setting up a waterwheel that could be used to power multiple of the grinders. Quartz dust is actually somewhat harmful if repeatedly exposed to, so I've also set up basic fume hoods over the grinders, with a glass shield and fan to help direct the quartz dust away from workers. I also plan on doing a rotating work schedule for these workers, similar to those who are processing the sulfuric ores. They'll take turns being on sorting or cutting shifts, to help reduce the amount of time they spend being potentially exposed to danger.
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Twenty days later, and I had a quartz cutting facility set up. Even if it turns out that it's not as effective as I thought, having quartz shaped like this will almost certainly be more effective than the current packing system around our freezers, so I don't feel like it's a waste to be doing this. Even outside the freezers, it could be useful to surround a few prison cells with quartz to reduce the threat the prisoner poses.
The next step was hiring and training goblins to do this work. I settled on a workforce of twenty goblins. There are only four grinders, so it's a bit oversized, but there is other work besides the grinders that the goblins have to do. Sorting takes up quite a few goblins, and comes in multiple steps. The first step happens at the mine, where a handful of goblins sort through crates of quartz to find crystals that are potentially large enough to be used for the process. Then, a single goblin looks through those crystals to determine if they have any cracks. If they do, they're likely to break during the cutting process, so they're rejected.
Next, another handful of goblins determine which size prism the surviving crystals can be cut into, and sort them accordingly. The final non-cutting job involves packing the finished crystals carefully into crates, using dried plant material to act as cushioning between the each crystal to help prevent damage. The goblins take turns rotating from their primary job to the grinders, so each individual goblin only spends 1/5th of their work time being potentially exposed to quartz dust.
After taking eight days to train this new goblin workforce, I went to go make two more stirling engine freezers. Thanks to the larger workforce, they had cut enough quartz for the two freezers in the six days it took me to make the rest of the two freezers, so I was able to get them assembled and added into Tiberius's ongoing study on the decay rates of his various extracted essences.
He's already gotten some preliminary results which are somewhat promising. Most of the materials seem to decay slower while frozen, with one exception. The mana poison that we brought back for him to extract actually gets ruined when frozen, and stops working within an hour or so. However, it does last longer when isolated from mana, and it decays slower while cool rather than hot. Likewise, most of the materials seem to decay slower while mana isolated, though the mileage varies based on the material. I still want to wait until there is more data before building out larger infrastructure though.
With the aside to handle cutting quartz taken care of, I have some more testing with the fluorite I want to do. When molten crystalline material is cooled too quickly, it either forms a glass or multiple small crystals which precipitate out. I know firsthand how difficult growing larger crystals can be, and I was lucky enough that I figured out a method for growing mana crystals. First, I'll go up the mountain and try the same method with fluorite, and see if I can grow the fluorite crystals that way. If not, I want to try a few different methods to artificially grow larger crystals.
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I spent five days on the mountain trying various methods to grow fluorite in the existing crystal apparatuses, and the only thing I achieved was damaging my smallest apparatus beyond repair. The molten fluorite cracked and destroyed the smaller fluorite seed crystal, and despite trying to heat the whole apparatus, I couldn't fix this issue. Small fluorite crystals formed on a bunch of surfaces, and basically rendered the whole device inoperable.
Unfortunately, that means I'll have to devise a different way to grow larger fluorite crystals, or just give up on the whole thing. The potential payout for being able to grow fluorite crystals is quite high. Ignoring the fact we could experiment with different inclusion materials, larger fluorite crystals of the heating variety could be shaped and used for all sorts of applications to reduce our dependence on wood as a fuel source. If you add in the potential to produce hydrogen at will, then the payout becomes even larger.
With that in mind, I think I'll start experimenting with growing fluorite in the lab. I have a few ideas of things I could try to attempt to grow the crystals.