The paper represents the synthesis process of charcoal from saw dust by chemical activation with different chemical agents like phosphoric acid, zinc chloride, and ferrous sulfate heptahydrate. The synthesized charcoal samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and BET surface analyser. The adsorption capacity of different charcoal samples was tested to separate oil from the oil-in-water emulsion. Effects of different parameters like adsorbent dosage, contact time and temperature on adsorption of oil from oil-in-water emulsion by synthesized charcoals have been investigated. Under optimized condition, the oil separation efficiency is more than 98%, though it also depends on the initial concentration of oil in the emulsion. Isotherm and kinetic study on adsorption of oil from oil-in-water emulsion have also been studied. Three widely applied isotherm models viz., Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin were used to analyze the experimental adsorption data. Different adsorption kinetic models were considered to model the experimental data. Thermodynamics parameters were also evaluated for the adsorption of oil onto the charcoal samples.