Barbara Haviland Minor

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Barbara Haviland Minor
NationalityAmerican
Alma materBucknell University
AwardsDupont Fellow, Perkin Medal
Scientific career
InstitutionsDuPont, Chemours
External video
video icon “CCN Video: HFOs in Australia”, Interview with Barbara Minor, 2015

Barbara Haviland Minor is an American chemical engineer who has worked at DuPont (between 1981 and 2015) and Chemours (since 2015).[1] She develops new refrigerants to be used in air conditioning and refrigeration systems,[1] in Europe, North America, Australia and other countries.[2] As of 2018, 50% of all new vehicles produced by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are believed to use her refrigerant, HFO-1234yf,[3] an important contribution to countering global warming.[1]

Minor was one of five women to be named a Dupont Fellow in 2014,[4] the first year that the company named women to its highest technical level.[5] She was awarded the Perkin Medal in 2018.[1]

Life[]

Minor graduated from Bucknell University in 1981[6] with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering.[1][7]

Career[]

Minor worked at DuPont from 1981 to 2015, when she moved to the spinoff company Chemours[1] in Wilmington, Delaware.[8] Minor develops new refrigerants for air conditioning and refrigeration systems. Her work supports the phasing out of ozone depleting chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and of hydrofluorocarbons that contribute to global warming.[1]

Minor was the technical leader for the research group at DuPont that developed HFO-1234yf,[4][9] a hydrofluoroolefin that can reduce emissions from automotive air conditioning by more than 99%.[1] HFO-1234yf has a much lower global warming potential (GWP) than the previously-used R-134a: its 100-year GWP was originally calculated as 4,[10] and later recalculated as <1,[11][12] compared to 1430 for R-134a. HFO-1234yf also has a lower atmospheric lifetime (11 days compared to 14 years), and higher energy efficiency under many conditions.[10]

The Dupont team worked jointly with researchers at Honeywell.[9][10] As a replacement for R-134a, HFO-1234yf is marketed as Opteon yf by Dupont[4] (later Chemours),[13] and as Solstice yf by Honeywell.[14] As of 2018, 50% of new vehicles produced by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are believed to use HFO-1234yf for air conditioning.[3]

Minor helped to develop both the XP (2014) and XL (2016) lines of refrigerant for Dupont and Chemours.[15] In addition to alternative refrigerants for use in automobiles,[16] more ecologically-friendly refrigerants have been developed for supermarket refrigeration systems (XP40)[17] commercial freezers (XL20),[18] reach-in coolers and freezers (R450A),[19] beverage coolers (HFO-1234yf),[20][21] large building chillers (XP30),[15] transport units with self-contained refrigeration (XP44)[15][21][8] direct expansion air conditioning, chilled water air conditioning and heat pumps (XL41, XL55).[22] Minor is also a co-inventor of Dupont's ISCEON MO99 (R438A), a possible replacement for R22, and Suva 95 (R508B), a possible replacement for R13 and R503.[7][23] A number of these refrigerants involve HFO/HFC blends.[2][24]

Minor holds more than 160 patents in the United States, for her work on refrigerants, cleaning agents, and aerosol propellants.[1][25][26]

She is a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). She has chaired the AHRI's Research group and the AHRTI's Technology and Steering committees.[27]

Awards[]

  • 2003: featured DuPont scientist, Woman Engineer magazine[28]
  • 2010: DuPont Sustainable Growth Award for HFO-1234yf[10]
  • 2014: Dupont Fellow[7][8][4][5]
  • 2016: Distinguished Service Award, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)[28]
  • 2017: Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award, Bucknell University College of Engineering and the Bucknell Engineering Alumni Association[28]
  • 2018: Perkin Medal[1][21][29][30]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "SCI Perkin Medal". Science History Institute. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Q&A Barbara Minor" (PDF). Ecolibrium: The official journal of AIRAH. 14 (7). August 2014. pp. 25–27. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Ask the expert: How many light duty OEs use HFO-1234yf refrigerant?". Vehicle Service Pros. May 15, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d "DuPont names seven new DuPont Fellows". DuPont Media Center. July 17, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "DuPont engineer earns top honor". The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. July 27, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  6. ^ "Barbara Haviland Minor '81, chemical engineering Keeping Her Cool". Bucknell University. April 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  7. ^ a b c "Minor is major influence for DuPont". Cooling Post. July 19, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  8. ^ a b c Salitsky, Cynthia (May 18, 2018). "The Chemours Company's Barbara H. Minor awarded prestigious Perkin medal: Chemical engineer to be honored by the Society of Chemical Industry". The New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Minor, Barbara; Spatz, Mark (2008). "HFO-1234yf Low GWP Refrigerant Update (Paper 937)". International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d "Recognizing excellence: Development of HFO-1234yf as the next generation refrigerant for the automotive industry" (PDF). 2010 DuPont Excellence Awards sustainable growth. 2010. p. 3. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  11. ^ "IPCC confirms HFO GWPs are less than 1". Cooling Post. February 3, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  12. ^ Scientific assessment of ozone depletion: 2014 full report. World Meteorological Organization Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project—Report No. 55. 2014. p. 551.
  13. ^ "Opteon™ XL10 (R-1234yf) Refrigerant". Chemours. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  14. ^ "Honeywell and Chemours Announce New Manufacturing Plants for HFO 1234yf". Aspen Refrigerants. June 12, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  15. ^ a b c "The Chemours Company's Barbara H. Minor awarded prestigious Perkin medal". NASDAQ. May 17, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  16. ^ "Chemours Adds New Low GWP Refrigerants to Range". ACR Journal. April 11, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  17. ^ "Ahold Completes Retrofit of Over 175 Supermarkets to Opteon™ XP40". PRNewsWire. September 27, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  18. ^ Minor, Barbara Haviland; Shah, Sonali; Simoni, Luke (2016). "Testing of HFO Refrigerant with Less Than 150 G WP in a Commercial Freezer (Paper 1729)". International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  19. ^ "Spanish store first to test new R404A "drop-in"". Cooling post. October 5, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  20. ^ Minor, Barbara Haviland; Montoya, Carlos; Kasa, Francisco Sandoval (2010). "HFO-1234yf Performance in a beverage cooler (Paper 1116)". International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  21. ^ a b c "Refrigerant engineer honoured". Cooling Post. May 17, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  22. ^ "Chemours offers new low GWP blends". Cooling Post. October 11, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  23. ^ "No R22? Are service blends a viable option?". Cooling Post. November 18, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  24. ^ "Refrigerant Report 18" (PDF). Bitzer GmbH. December 11, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  25. ^ "R1234yf inventor Barbara H Minor honoured with prestigious Science of Chemical Industry award". VASA. May 24, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  26. ^ "Patents by inventor Barbara Haviland Minor". Justia Patents. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  27. ^ "Join the R1234yf elite" (PDF). SightGlass News. April 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  28. ^ a b c "Bucknell Engineering Alumni Association Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award 2017". Bucknell University. November 4, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  29. ^ "The Chemours Company's Barbara H. Minor awarded prestigious Perkin Medal". Chemours Investor Relations. May 17, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  30. ^ "SCI Awards Perkin Medal to Chemours' Barbara Minor". Chemical Processing. May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.

External links[]

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