Determination of potassium permanganate demand variation with depth for oxidation-remediation of soils from a PAHs-contaminated coking plant

► Potassium permanganate effectively removed PAHs in soils of different lithology from coking plants. ► Reactions between permanganate and PAH-contaminated soils occurred primarily within the first 8 d and followed first order kinetics. ► TOD of soils at different depth followed the order of clayey silt fill > silty clay/clayey silt > sandy silt > silt > fine sand. ► The TOC content, clay content and PAHs concentration positively correlated with TOD.