Belay, Woldeyes (Prof.)Tinsu, Gebreyohans2018-12-252023-11-102018-12-252023-11-102018-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/15293The fly ash based catalyst was prepared using the wet impregnation procedure with different loadings of potassium hydroxide. The prepared catalyst was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The K iii 2 O/fly ash based catalyst at a reaction temperature of 60ºC, molar ratio of methanol to oil of 6:1 and reaction time of 2 hours exhibited maximum oil conversion (94.5%)due that this catalyst was selected for the whole experimental study. Biodiesel was produced via transesterification reaction process using K 2 O/fly ash as a heterogeneous catalyst, and purified Jatropha curcas seed oil which is extracted from the Jatropha seed bought from Awash Melkasa. To obtain a high percentage yield of biodiesel fuel that comply the specification of standard methods, some important variables such as molar ratio of methanol to oil (6:1-12:1), reaction temperature of (50-60ºC) and catalyst loading of (2-4Wt.%) was investigated and an optimum biodiesel (FAME) yield of 92.68% was obtained At the following conditions; 60ºC of reaction temperature, molar ratio of methanol to oil of 6.5:1 and 3.44wt.% of catalyst, which indicating that K 2 O/fly ash based catalyst has the potential as a heterogeneous catalyst. The biodiesel produced was tested and important fuel properties of the methyl esters (Biodiesel) compared well with ASTM biodiesel standard. The experimental design and statistical analysis were done by Design-Expert 7.0.0 program. Response surface methodology (RMS) employing the central composite design (CCD) was used to optimize the biodiesel production.en-USFly ashTransesterificationJatropha oilBiodieselThesis