Can you not get a full top listing that shows the memory allocated to the individual processes?

My guess is that some or all of those other processes are dormant but non-zombied copies of your script that are not exiting. If each copy uses a modest 30MB and you have 100 of them sitting around in memory doing nothing, that will give your 3GB total memory usage.

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
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In reply to Re^3: Memory Leak: Uses 3GB+ by BrowserUk
in thread Memory Leak: Uses 3GB+ by kilimanjaro

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