Wood ash is a highly alkaline material comprises of inorganic constituents. A limited
information on use of wood ash as catalyst is available in literature. The present study was
undertaken to investigate the catalytic activity of wood ash for transesterification of
Jatropha oil. The thermal treatment (calcination) of wood ash was carried out at temperature in the range of 500e1200 C to produce calcined wood ash catalysts (CWC). The wood
ash was also chemically activated with K2CO3 and CaCO3 by double carbonate solid state
reaction to yield activated wood ash catalysts (AWC). The prepared catalysts were characterized by analytical techniques for surface morphology, crystalline phases, textural
characteristics and alkalinity. Methyl ester conversion of Jatropha oil was achieved in the
range of 97e99% with CWC and AWC catalysts. The synthesized Jatropha methyl esters
using CWC and AWC catalysts have been found meeting the critical physico-chemical
properties of ASTM D-6751 standards of biodiesel. The present study revealed the possibility of producing potential heterogeneous catalyst from wood ash for biodiesel synthesis,
which can find a way to utilize abundant wood ash and reduce the overall cost of biodiesel
production