Patent ID: 7734431

Claim:
An apparatus for fluid leak detection, comprising: a fluid supply conduit for supplying fluid to an external structure; a fluid return conduit for carrying fluid away from the external structure, wherein the fluid supply conduit and the fluid return conduit are disposed substantially in parallel with each other; an oscillator for causing a separation of the fluid supply conduit and fluid return conduit to vary over time; first and second sensors disposed relative to the fluid supply conduit and fluid return conduit to measure the separation at respective first and second opposed portions of the fluid supply and return conduits; and a processor coupled to the oscillator and the first and second sensors, wherein the oscillator is responsive to the processor and the processor receives respective first and second separation measurement signals from the first and second sensors, and wherein the processor is configured to determine whether there is a difference between a supply fluid mass flowing in the fluid supply conduit and a return fluid mass flowing in the fluid return conduit based on the first and second separation measurement signals, and output a signal based on the determination, said output signal corresponding to a fluid leak.