Convection-diffusion-reaction processes widely exist in chemical engineering and other sectors of industry. In many cases, these systems are convection-dominated and can be modelled by parabolic partial differential equations (PDEs) with a relatively dominant convection term. The control of these systems using traditional solution methods requires demanding computation to achieve high control performance. In this paper, a predictive control approach is developed for these systems using a new solution technique that combines the method of characteristics and finite difference approximation. The study shows that the proposed control approach is able to provide a computationally efficient control for convection-dominant parabolic systems. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.