The volumetric liquid-side mass transfer coefficients k(L)a in 1-butanol, toluene, ethanol and tap water were used in order to show that, when the classical penetration theory is applied to ellipsoidal bubbles, it needs to be corrected. The k(1)a data were obtained in a 0.102 m diameter bubble column operated in the homogeneous now regime at pressures varied from 0.1 to 1.0 MPa. The new correction factor (lower than unity) was correlated with the dimensionless Eotvos number, Eo (gravitational force to surface tension force ratio). The k(L)a data (32 points) are fitted with a mean error of 8.2%.