Volumetric mass transfer coefficient for carbon monoxide in a dual impeller stirred tank reactor considering a perfluorocarbon–water mixture as liquid phase

•399.06 ± 28.06 h−1: highest kLa for CO mass transfer in distilled water for a STR.•PFC needs to be well dispersed in water in order to enhance CO mass transfer.•Tween® 80 successfully dispersed PFC in water, which enhanced CO mass transfer.•MLE and hybrid optimisation were performed to evaluate kLa in CO mass transfer.•The computational method improved kLa statistical analysis discussion.