Browsing by Author "Perera, KKCK"

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item: Thesis-Full-text
Analysis of energy embodied in cement produced in Sri Lanka
(3/25/2011) Namal, DDA; Attalage, RA; Perera, KKCK
Analysis of the embodied energy in cement produced in Sri Lanka was carried out considering national boundaries. National energy input to the cement manufacturing was the main focus or this study and therefore any energy involvement outside Sri Lanka was not taken in to consideration in this analysis. The total embodied energy content was analyzed in three levels. In level I. direct energy consumption in manufacturing of cement at Puttalam cement factory was analyzed and energy consumption for ancillary inputs was considered in the level 2. Energy consumption for raw material extraction and transportation with in the country was analyzed in level 3.// The direct delivered energy consumption was assessed by carrying out an energy survey at Puttalam cement factory. Then this direct energy was referred to primary energy by considering the national energy mix in electricity generation together with transmission and distribution losses in electricity distribution. power plant efficiencies. and energy consumption in refining petroleum fuels.// The total national energy requirement to produce one ton of cement in Sri Lanka was found to be 4896 MJ based on the present energy mix of electricity generation. This varies between4982 MJ/MT and 4732 MJ/MT according to the future energy mix of the electricity generation and the transmission loss reduction plan of Sri Lanka.// The outcome of this study can be used to select the best material for building construction from cement based products and in the formulation of energy conservation policies like the Building Code. In addition the outcome of the study can be used as inputs for further research relevant to energy content of materials.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Applicability of Kalina cycle for waste heat recovery in themal power stations in Sri Lanaka
Dematapitiya, DRAK; Perera, KKCK; Ranasinghe, RACP
Energy Crisis is the critical problem faced by the modern world. Day by day the impact is becoming severe with decaying of fossil fuels. Therefore, whole world has paid their attention on Non Conventional Renewable Energy sources. Industrial Waste Heat Recovery is one of them. The main focus of this thesis is to identify the best suited method for recovering lowgrade energy from thermal power stations in Sri Lanka. Among few methods, Kalina Cycle System is selected by concerning its viability for usage. Several attempts were made to assess the available heat energy from thermal power stations in Sri Lanka. The first objective of this research is to assess the thermal energy wasted from thermal power stations operating in Sri Lanka. The next objective was to identify the best suited configuration of Kalina Cycle System for extracting low-grade heat energy. The final objective was to use the said system for harnessing the energy, and quantify them. Simultaneously an economic analysis was carried out to assess its economic feasibility. A literature review was done to identify possibilities of harnessing the energy from flue gas of thermal power stations and to find out the suitable method for extracting energy.Lakvijaya Power Station and Kelanitissa Combined Cycle Power Station, which have emissions below 200oC, has the ability of generating electricity using the Kalina Cycle.However, as per the analysis, they are not economically feasible. However, with these results,it is suggested to continue the same exercise to other thermal power stations, which has high temperature flue gases. As the next step, it is proposed to identify the best suited Kalina Cycle System for the rest of thermal power stations and expand this exercise throughout CEB owned and private owned thermal power stations, using other suitable configurations of Kalina Cycle System.
item: Article-Full-text
Assessment of sustainable energy potential of non-plantation biomass resources in Sri Lanka
(Elsevier, 2005) Perera, KKCK; Rathnasiri, PG; Senarath, SAS; Sugathapala, AGT; Bhattacharya, SC; Abdul Salam, P
This paper discusses the importance of biomass as a source of energy in Sri Lanka and assesses the sustainable national non-plantation biomass resource potential. Different biomass sources, both direct and indirect, are considered in the analysis. The direct sources include agricultural and wood residues, animal manure, municipal solid waste and wastewater. The indirect sources include fuelwood conservation through efficiency improvements and fuelwood savings through fuel switching. The potential of each source is estimated for the base year 1997 as well as for the years 2005 and 2010. The total energy potential of these sources in 1997, 2005 and 2010 is 120 PJ, 133 PJ and 142 PJ, respectively. The corresponding electricity generation potentials are 8.34, 9.24 and 9.85 TWh, respectively for a conversion efficiency of 25%. The annual electricity demand in Sri Lanka 1997 was 4.20TWh and the forecast values for the years 2005 and 2010 are 10.50 and 15.60TWh respectively; this implies that the biomass sources could contribute significantly towards meeting the future electricity requirement.
item: Article-Full-text
Converting existing Internal Combustion Generator (ICG) systems into HESs in standalone applications
(Elsevier, 2013) Perera, ATD; Attalage, RA; Perera, KKCK; Dassanayake, VPC
Expanding existing Internal Combustion Generator (ICG) systems by combining renewable energy sources is getting popular due to global concern on emission of green house gases (GHG) and increasing fossil fuel costs. Life cycle cost, initial capital cost (ICC), power supply reliability of the system, and GHG emission by ICG are factors to be considered in this process. Pareto front of Levelized Energy Cost (LEC)– Unmet Load Fraction (ULF)–GHG emission was taken in this study for four different expansion scenarios. Furthermore, Pareto front of ICC–LE–ULF was taken for three different expansion scenarios in order to analyze the impact of renewable energy integration. The results clearly depict that characteristics of the Pareto front varies with the scale of expansion and objectives taken for the optimization. A detailed analysis was conducted for a scale up problem with a 4 kVA ICG by using the Pareto fronts obtained.
item: Article-Full-text
Designing standalone hybrid energy systems minimizing initial investment, life cycle cost and pollutant emission
(Elsevier, 2013) Perera, ATD; Attalage, RA; Perera, KKCK; Dassanayake, VPC
HES (hybrid energy system)s are becoming energy systems of choice for standalone applications due to ever increasing fuel costs and global concern on GHG (Green House Gas) emissions. However, it is difficult to justify the higher ICC (Initial Capital Cost) of renewable energy components, especially for rural electrification projects in developing countries. This paper illustrates the modeling and simulation of HESs, and multi-objective optimization carried out in order to support decision-making in such instances. LEC (Levelized Energy Cost), ICC and GHG emission were taken as objective functions in the optimization and the sensitivity of market prices and power supply reliability was further evaluated. Results depict that Pareto front of LEC, ICC and GHG emission can be simplified as a combination of ICC eLEC and LECeGHG emission Pareto fronts making the decision-making process simpler. Gradual integration of renewable energy sources in a number of design stages is proposed for instances where it is difficult to bear the higher ICC. Finally, importance of planning integration of renewable energy sources at early design stages of the project is highlighted in order to overcome the difficulties that need to be faced when coming up with the optimum design.
item: Conference-Abstract
Determining wind turbine capacity for expansion of off grid internal combustion generators (ICG) system; why it becomes challenging?
Perera, ATD; Wickremasinghe, DMIJ; Mahindarathna, DVS; Attalage, RA; Perera, KKCK; Bartholameuz, EM
Combining renewable energy sources to Internal Combustion Generator (ICG) systems for standalone applications is becoming popular due to higher depletion rate of fossil fuel resources and global concerns on Green House Gas (GHG) emission. In this study, Hybrid Energy System (HES) modeling and simulation was done in order to investigate the impact of Wind Turbine Capacity (WTC) for expansion of such ICG systems. For that, ε- multi objective optimization was used to analyze the effect of varying WTC to Levelized Energy Cost (LEC) and ICG energy output. Obtained results show the importance of multi criterion analysis instead of classical cost optimization in expanding existing ICG systems in a cost effective environment friendly manner.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Development of a direct exchange area estimation algorithm for rectangular enclosures
Wickramasekara, HH; Perera, KKCK
Conduction, convection and radiation are the principle modes of transferring heat from a source to sink. In a furnace, when the operating temperature is above 10000C, radiation heat transfer will be the predominant mode of transferring the heat. For such a furnace, estimating the radiation heat transfer accurately is essential. To estimate the heat transfer in the absence of participating medium, obtaining radiation properties of surfaces, temperatures of surfaces and view factor between surfaces is necessary. When participating media is concerned, it mainly consists of CO2 and H2O due to fossil fuel combustion. Mixtures of these gasses are typically participating in radiation heat transfer process with different emissivity values at different temperatures. Therefore, view factor concept will not be accurate in such an instant. Direct Exchange Area (DEA) is introduced to cater for participating medium involved problems. To evaluate the radiation heat transfer with participating medium using zonal method, it is essential to determine the DEA values. Direct integration and Monte Carlo are the main methods to evaluate view factor. However, Monte Carlo method is not viable to apply for simple shapes such as rectangular enclosures due to large time consumption and computer storage requirement. Thus, direct integration is a good approach to find DEAs for simple geometries. Surface to surface zones (SS), surface to volume zones (SG), volume to volume zones (GG) are the scenarios which needed to be determined in DEA estimation. Generalized mathematical equations for DEAs were simplified by using vector algebra with considering the simple shape of rectangular furnace walls. Further simplification could be done by reducing the integration scheme. Later, computer programming has been used to estimate the DEA values which is based on numerical techniques. The resulting programming code is based on Matlab software, which has been developed to determine DEAs for each and every zones surface and volume which will be decided by the user. Estimated DEAs are not available in literature due to its dependency on area and absorption coefficient variable selected by the user. However, programming code based results validation can be done in two ways. One way is to convert DEA values for surface zones in to view factors by avoiding the effect from participating medium. Then the evaluated results can be compared with well known literature. Secondly, a mathematical relation which will be explained in literature can be used to compare overall results. The computer based program was sophisticated with a user friendly interfaceso that the user or the designer does not need to worry about what is happening inside. The calculated result will later be transformed in to matrix form which can be directly used on estimation of heat transfer. For future work, improvement of developed software interface to perform in optimum condition, enhancing with more features to cater for scattering situations, handling of garbage input by user, reducing the effect on higher absorption coefficient on the results were suggested.
item:
Development of an empirical model of a helically coiled steam generator for waste heat recovery
(2011) Premalhilake, MRLT; Rajapaksha, RPAKS; Hewa Bettage, MS; Perera, KKCK; Perera, PABAR; Ranaweera, RAMP
Discussions are going on today in many forums analyzing correlations between engineering applications and environmental pollutions. As a result of that, novel concepts such as green engineering have appeared in the engineering scenario. This paper describes a procedure developed for designing a helically coiled steam generator (SG) for recovering heat from the flue gas of a furnace. The design was applied to the lead melting furnace operating at Associated Battery Manufacturers (Ceylon) Ltd (ABM), Ratmalana, Sri Lanka, Most available literature deals with experimental investigations regarding correlations for heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops in helically coiled heat exchangers for both single phase and two phase flow regions. The paper presents a systematic procedure for designing a helically coiled SG through this case study.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Development of an operator friendly boiler performance calculator
Delpitiya, C; Perera, KKCK; Manthilaka, I
Saving fuel by optimising the equipment performance has become a goal for almost all global organisations and boilers which contribute to a major share of global recourses consumption was subjected to the present study. This study was conducted to develop a boiler performance evaluation tool. Different performance indicators and methods of evaluating those indicators were studied. Performance calculator was developed based on British Standard, which can estimate performance of steam, hot water boilers and thermal fluid heaters with limited inputs and standard measurements. The calculator was used to estimate direct efficiency, indirect efficiency and evaporation ratio of selected cases using secondary data. Calculated values of respective performance indicators were compared with measured values. Calculated results of indirect efficiencies have 0.897 to 0.950 correlation and the excess air percentages were 99.5% agreed with measured values. This can be developed using advance software including an expanded version of the steam table.
item: SRC-Report
Energy audit in the university premises : [University of Moratuwa]
Perera, KKCK
Energy audit was earned out with the objective of understanding the energy use pattern of the University of Moratuwa and quantifying the patterns of energy use by different sources. A study was carried out by zoning the University premises into three main Five different end use modes namely; Air Conditioning, Lighting, Heater Elements, Motor Coils and other equipment, has been identified as the consumer of electrical energy. Photocopy machines, computers, printers, projectors and refrigerators were considered as other equipment. Energy consumption of the later mode observed to be 32% while the Air Conditioning consumes 28%. Lighting, Motor Coils and Heater Elements consume 16%, 15% and 9% respectively. Total of 7100 kWh of electrical energy is consumed by the University during a single day. Share of the monthly average diesel and Petrol consumptions is 80 %( 3106 liters): 20 %( 753 liters). 99% of the diesel is for transportation
item: Article-Abstract
Estimation of heat exchange across multi-facade roof structures for residential buildings
Sirimanna, MPG; Attalage, RA; Perera, KKCK
Roofs of residential buildings play a crucial role in the context of building heat gains and thermal comfort, since they are exposed to a significant portion of insolation during the day. Therefore, it is important to develop a generalized model to evaluate thermal performance of roof structures under local conditions. This modelling becomes complex due to the dynamic nature of the parameters and various configurations, orientations of the roof surfaces in 3-D space. To address this issue a numerical approach was used to determine view factors of roof surfaces of a generic configuration. Consequently, a thermal model was developed to represent roof structures with four roof surfaces and a ceiling. Model is capable of incorporating insolation on roof surfaces, environmental conditions, roof configuration and materials and obtaining thermal responses of roof surfaces. A computational tool was finally developed based on the model. In this paper, the developed model and the roof thermal responses which were obtained with the aid of computational tool for several roof materials under Sri Lankan environmental conditions are presented and discussed.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Evaluvating the potenital of adopting clean development mecahanism for implementing renewable energy based projects in Sri Lanka
(2015-07-09) Samarasinghe, JB; Attalage, RA; Perera, KKCK
Sri Lanka has had a hydropower dominated electricity generation for many years with relatively high rainfall mainly in the central hilly region. This factor has led to a greater dependence on hydropower for its power generation. However, at the same time, Sri Lanka is heavily dependent on imported fuel and for energy security it is imperative that we take steps to harness the renewable energy sources. The government is trying to respond to the energy supply issue by relying heavily on fossil fuel based electrical power, which may not be the correct energy option for Sri Lanka. Therefore, the large scale fossil based power plants are not environmentally friendly in comparison to other energy options. This will result in a gradual increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) and other environmental emissions in the power sector and, hence, there has been a lot of opposition from the people, especially environmentalists, civil society and residents in the locations where fossil based plants have been planned. The main intention of this study is to form an internationally consistent view to answer the question as to whether and to what extent the adoption of renewable based combustion technologies in projects could be economic and sustainable in, place of the nonrenewable based combustion dominant projects. The study will consider the appropriateness of existing perspectives and policy imperatives in the above regard also. Special emphasis will be given for the local environmental protection, mitigation of climate change, legislation and quality of service in a context of global competition. It is a fact as well as the general perception that adoption of renewable energy technology based projects and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) created under the Kyoto Protocol, are directly linked. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) act as a bridge to link the industrialized countries and developing countries. The CDM intends to assist developing countries achieve sustainable development by providing incentives for industrialized countries to invest cost-efficient GHG reduction projects in these countries. The developed countries can receive some credits by investing and implementing GHG emission reduction projects in the developing countries, then use the credits to fulfil their legally binding quantitative obligations laid down in the Kyoto Protocol. Although the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) does not have an explicit technology transfer mandate, it may contribute to technology transfer by financing emission reduction projects using technologies currently not available in the host countries. The study presented in this thesis first analyse the potential technology possibility under the CDM in power generation. This study is a theoretical study focused on the survey of the current state of art of CDM and related issues. The results show that the potential of CDM opportunities in mini hydro, biomass including dendro power and wind energy , which can be identified as the leading, sustainable, non-conventional forms of renewable energy promoted in Sri Lanka for electricity generation to feed into the thermal grid. Also the main intention of this study is to investigate the technological and regulatory interventions on overall power sector emissions and economic and environmental benefits of such interventions. Based on the analysis it was found that present annual CO2 emission with respect to the thermal power electric generations in Sri Lanka is about 0.75 Million Metric Tons and Wind, mini-hydro and bio mass will be very attractive with CDM funding. Out of the selected CDM options, the Mini Hydro plant that Sri Lanka need to choose is particularly important. Considering that this is the option giving the highest carbon reduction within the planning horizon while having the highest profit. But when considering the local energy tariff structure, the tariff is highest for Biomass.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Feasibility study of a cogeneration plant using sawdust
(3/25/2011) Jayasekera, KGC; Attalage, RA; Perera, KKCK
Feasibility study of a co generation plant using saw dust was carried out. The selected site was the Associated Motor Ways Factory, Kalutara. The electrical energy demand and the thermal energy demand of the factory were assessed by carrying out an energy audit in the factory. The daily saw dust availability from the Moratuwa area was assessed by carrying out a site survey in the saw mills in this area. It was determined that the availability of saw dust would be sufficient to cater for the electricity and thermal energy requirements of the factory.// Economic analysis was carried out for the four basic scenarios of base electrical load; matching, base thermal load matching, peak electrical load matching and peak thermal load matching. It showed that all the four scenarios are feasible with favorable economic parameters. Nevertheless there are merits and demerits among each of these scenarios and these were discussed reference to each scenario. Base electrical load matching showed the most favorable economics giving an IRR value of 34%.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Feasibility study of adopting an available standard as a national standard for the manufacture of boilers in Sri Lanka
(2018) Karawita, RVK; Perera, KKCK; Jayasekara, JGAS
As a result of several boiler explosions took place in the recent past that have been broadly discussed in Chapter 1 of this thesis, a need of a standard for the manufacture of boilers in Sri Lanka was arisen. Even though such codes have already been formulated, those are not prac-ticable. Mainly the materials proposed for the shell are very rarely found in the local market. Therefore, in this research project, minimum and essential requirements for the manufacture of boilers and applicability of both specified materials and alternatively proposed materials which affect the construction of boilers were analysed. The main objective of the project was to carry out a feasibility study for adopting an existing standard as national standard. Within the identified scope the objectives of the research were to: identify material requirements for the shell; identify material requirements for the tube plates; and identify material requirements for the man hole and hand hole. Data collection was through open discussion with the manufacturers and statistics of the La-bour Department. As of the findings of Chapter 8, for a given steam boiler, the material speci-fied in the standard and the proposed equivalent martial A36 as well, can be used for the shell, tube plates and man/hand holes.In addition to that, to provide essential guidelines to boiler manufacturers as given in Boiler pressure part materials of Chapter 3 and Pressure ves-sel welding of Chapter4 so that their manufacturing process is enhanced thereby, to stream-line the boiler industry of the country with the national legislations thereby, to ensure a safer working environment for the operators thereby and to evaluate the standard requirements in comparison with the actual data of materials to be used for the above are the other objectives. In furtherance to that, the adopted standard as such is going to be used as the base document of the law that will be enacted by the Department of Labour of Sri Lanka in order to regulate the boiler industry or manufacture of boilers in Sri Lanka. Since the standards are voluntary in nature, it is essential to make special provisions in order to get this enacted as a law which will be a part and parcel of the judicial system of the country while the same will enhance the boiler industry to be matured enough in order to be able to confront with the market chal-lenges by avoiding technical barriers to trade (TBT). However, there are two main limitations in consideration of assistance to be derived from existing standards as, availability of speci-fied materials in the Sri Lankan market and achieving the specified quality control and assur-ance of welding process. Keeping the above as constraints of this study and IBR as the stan-dard identified, a material designated by ASTM as A 36 was identified for equivalence from the market. Studies can be extended up to manufacture of pressure vessels as future work. Finally, this project will open another access for forward march of the country, to become a Newly Industrialized Country (NIC)
item: Conference-Abstract
Feasibility study on solar photovoltaic Office Air Conditioning in Sri Lanka
(2011) Perera, KAEK; Kollure, KAL; Prasad, WAKSS; Perera, PABAR; Perera, ATD; Perera, KKCK
Due to the rapid depletion of fossil fuel resources and global concern on Green House Gas emissions, sustainable energy technologies have become important in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems in buildings. As a result, much focus is given on research and application based on solar powered HVAC, in various parts of the world. Such initiatives are of timely importance in Sri Lankan context due to the availability of good solar energy potential. In this work, an existing air conditioning system for an office building of 51m~ in Sri Lanka was taken into study. An economic evaluation was performed using HOMER (Version 2.68 beta) to assess the feasibility of using Solar PV (SPV) to power the air conditioning system. The results show that under present circumstances, the Levelized Cost of Energy (COE) of the optimized photovoltaic stand alone system lies far above that of the grid powered. Lt further depicts that grid integration would bring down the COE of the SPV system closer to the range of the main grid. Hence in current conditions, grid integration is the way forward for SPV assisted air conditioning in Sri Lanka.
item: Article-Full-text
Fuelwood-fired cookstoves in Sri Lanka and related issues
(Elsevier, 2002) Perera, KKCK; Sugathapala, AGT
The historical development of cookstoves and improved cookstove (ICS) development and dissemination programmes conducted in Sri Lanka are reviewed and the current utilization patterns of different cookstoves are estimated. Performance characteristics and emission factors of most commonly used stove categories are presented. Environmental and health implications of domestic cooking are discussed. Impacts of dissemination of ICSs, in terms of fuelwood savings and emission reductions, are also estimated. The results indicate that only 12% of the fuelwood used for cooking in the domestic sector is consumed in ICSs and around 41% of fuelwood could be saved by dissemination of ICSs. This would lead to a considerable reduction in the emissions generated from fuelwood use in domestic cooking.
item: Conference-Full-text
Future scope and strategies in energy education
(Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2001-07) Attalage, RA; Perera, KKCK; Sugathapala, AGT; Nanayakkara, LDJF
The paper identifies the scope and strategies in energy education related to Mechanical Engineering. The global and local trends in energy sources, technologies and social & environmental aspects with reference to standard scenarios have been identified This information together with the current status of energy education in the country has been utilized to establish the scope and strategies for the future energy education at tertiary level based on two time horizons: short term and long term that are mainly dominated by trends, policies and conditions in global and local contexts respectively.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Heat gains to building interiors through roofs : a study based on selected configurations in Sri Lanka
(7/21/2012) Sirimanna, MPG; Attalage, RA; Perera, KKCK
Roofs of residential buildings play a crucial role in the context of building heat gains and thermal comfort, since they are exposed to a significant portion of insolation during the day. Therefore, it is important to develop a generalized model to evaluate thermal performance of roof structures under local conditions. This modeling becomes complex due to the dynamic nature of the parameters and various configurations, orientations of the roof surfaces in 3-D space. To address this issue a numerical approach was used to determine view factors of roof surfaces of a generic configuration. Consequently, a thermal model was developed to represent roof structures with four roof surfaces and a ceiling. Model is capable of incorporating insolation on roof surfaces, environmental conditions, roof configuration and materials and obtaining thermal responses of roof surfaces. A computational tool was finally developed based on the model. In order to validate the computational tool, an experimental setup was build and readings were recorded for several days. Same system was simulated using the computational tool and the results were compared. Furthermore, a commercial software and the developed computational tool were used to simulate a selected case and the results were compared with each other.
item: Conference-Extended-Abstract
How does the Internal generator capacity and power supply reliability affects hybrid energy system sizing?
(2010) Perera, ATD; Wickremasinghe, DMIJ; Mahindarathna, DVS; Attalage, RA; Perera, KKCK; Bartholameuz, EM
Combining renewable energy sources to Internal Combustion Generator (ICG) systems for standalone applications is becoming popular due to higher depletion rate of fossil fuel resources and global concerns on green house gas emission- Modeling, simulation and optimization of such Hybrid Energy System (HES) was done in this study in order to investigate the impact of ICG and wind turbine capacity to Levelized Energy Cost (LEC)j and ICG Energy produced, further evolutionary e-multi objective optimization wets used to analyze the effect of unmet load allowance to I.EC and ICG energy produced in such scenarios Obtained results were compared with HOMER (existing software based on enumerative method); which shows that the Wasted Renewable Energy (WRE) increases with the reduction of ICG capacity increasing system sizing which could be reduced by a large fraction with slight allowance for unmet load.
item: Article-Full-text
A hybrid tool to combine multi-objective optimization and multi-criterion decision making in designing standalone hybrid energy systems
(Elsevier, 2013) Perera, ATD; Attalage, RA; Perera, KKCK; Dassanayake, VPC
Hybrid energy systems (HESs) are becoming popular for standalone applications due to global concern regarding green house gas (GHG) emissions and depletion of fossil fuel resources. Research in the optimal design of HESs is ongoing, with numerous optimization techniques giving special emphasis to Pareto optimization, incorporating conflicting objectives. The subsequent decision-making process including the non-dominant set of solutions has yet to be addressed. This work focuses on combining multi-objective optimization with a multi-criterion decision making (MCDM) technique to support decision makers in the process of designing HESs. Four different objectives, i.e., levelized energy cost (LEC), unmet load fraction, wasted renewable energy (WRE) and fuel consumption are used to obtain the Pareto front. A decision support tool based on Fuzzy TOPSIS and level diagrams is proposed to analyze the Pareto front and support the subsequent decision-making activity. A case study is used to illustrate the applicability of the proposed method. The study shows that the novel method is useful when determining the relative weights of objectives, providing a detailed picture of the objective space to the designer when coming up with the optimum system. The technique proposed in this study can be further extended to analyze similar problems in energy system design where MCDM is necessary after multi-objective optimization.