A method for the determination of absolute kinetic rate constants is proposed using an unstationary film model. This methodology avoids the experimental determination of parameters like the enhancement factor or the Hatta number which are usually model-dependent. The mathematical model is general for gasliquid systems with irreversible second order reactions. An optimization procedure based on artificial neural networks is used to estimate the initial guess of the parameters and the subsequent application of Gauss-Newton algorithm for the final non-linear parameter estimation. The model is tested with the ozonation reaction of Acid Red 27, Acid Orange 7 and Acid Blue 129. The second order kinetic rate constant for the direct reaction with O 3 are 1615 ± 93, 609 ± 83 and 49 ± 2 M -1 s -1 respectively.