We studied the segregation behavior of multi-size granular particles enclosed in a vertically vibrated container. In the experiment, we applied three kinds of 13X molecular sieve particles. The diameters of these particles are approximately 1:3:6 in the multi-size granular system. Under vibration, the system finally forms a stable hybrid convection mode, and the apparent tendency of the Brazilian nut (BN) effect occurs. The dissipated energy distribution model was introduced, in which the multi-size system was compared with the species competition system. We demonstrated that each kind of particle's top free surface area occupation percentage approximately equals its dissipated energy power percentage in the entire system. The results calculated according to the model well matched the experimental results. (C) Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.