The control of the outlet temperature of Air Heating Plant (AHP) is an important aspect in a drying process. The model based control algorithm, namely Dynamic Matrix Control (DMC), is derived for the AHP. The control objective is to regulate the temperature of the dryer (air) through an appropriate d.c. signal to the thyristor-controlled heater. The optimal values of control moves are calculated by solving an objective function with the help of a time-domain step response model of the process. A conventional PI and PID controller performance is also studied. The superiority of DMC scheme in the presence of measurement noise is highlighted in this paper.