The Hatta number (Ha) was developed by Shirôji Hatta (1895-1973 ) in 1932, who taught at Tohoku University from 1925 to 1958. It is a dimensionless parameter that compares the rate of reaction in a liquid film to the rate of diffusion through the film. For a second order reaction (), the maximum rate of reaction assumes that the liquid film is saturated with gas at the interfacial concentration ; thus, the maximum rate of reaction is . 
For a reaction  order in  and  order in :
For gas-liquid absorption with chemical reactions, a high Hatta number indicates the reaction is much faster than diffusion. In this case, the reaction occurs within a thin film, and the surface area limits the overall rate. Conversely, a Hatta number smaller than unity suggests the reaction is the limiting factor, and the reaction takes place in the bulk fluid, requiring larger volumes.