Clean Caspian, an environmental research start-up backed by Alkagesta, has finished the first phase of work on technologies intended to tackle oil spills in enclosed marine ecosystems. In an update published on its website, Alkagesta described the completion as the project’s first major development milestone, with two products advancing through laboratory testing.
The research examined chemical compositions for Oil-Collecting Reagent-1 and Flocculant–Coagulant-1. According to Alkagesta, laboratory results identified the most promising formulations for each. The oil-collecting reagent performed effectively in localising thin layers of oil, while the flocculant–coagulant showed strong results in destabilising emulsions of oil in water. These findings relate to laboratory work; the next phase includes further testing under different environmental conditions.
Co-founders Aynura Mammadova and Narmin Ismayilova carried out the first phase. Mammadova is a student researcher on the University of Padova’s master’s programme in Sustainable Chemistry and Technologies for Circular Economy. Ismayilova is a researcher and instructor at Baku Engineering University. Some of the work on Flocculant–Coagulant-1 took place at the University of Padova, drawing on research expertise and laboratory resources in both Azerbaijan and Italy.
Alkagesta’s account also cited the project’s academic supervisor, who praised the team’s scientific rigour and its relatively rapid progression from initial concepts to laboratory validation. The supervisor credited Alkagesta’s industry knowledge and collaborative involvement with helping connect the research to practical operational and environmental needs. That assessment accompanied the reported laboratory results rather than evidence of performance in operational deployment.
Following completion of Phase I, Clean Caspian intends to refine both formulations and undertake additional tests across varying environmental conditions. The team will also continue the patent application process. The planned work keeps the project focused on developing practical oil spill remediation tools, with optimisation and further validation still ahead.
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