Praxair Inc. and Midrex Technologies Inc. signed an alliance agreement to develop and market new process technology for the production of direct reduced iron (DRI) with a variety of fuels such as coke-oven gas. The new process uses an innovative partial oxidation technology to convert hydrocarbon fuels into high-quality, high-temperature syngas suitable for DRI production. Midrex, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kobe Steel Ltd., and Praxair will perform a demonstration of the new technology at Midrex’s extensive DRI research facilities in Charlotte, N.C., later this year.