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Nature of Operations and Principles of Consolidation - Income Statement Impact (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition
Sales	$ 290.1	$ 272.2	$ 277.9	$ 244.1	$ 269.4	$ 202.7	$ 199.8	$ 171.0	$ 1,084.3	$ 842.9	$ 722.0
Cost of sales									788.4	611.3	512.3
Selling, general and administrative expenses									181.9	180.9	158.7
Income tax expense									13.4	(16.6)	10.6
Net income from continuing operations attributable to Chart Industries, Inc.	$ 47.7	$ 22.2	$ 12.3	$ 5.8	$ 26.7	$ 1.5	$ 2.7	$ (2.9)	$ 88.0	$ 28.0	$ 28.2
Net income from continuing operations attributable to Chart Industries, Inc. per common share:
Income (loss) from continuing operations, basic (usd per share)	$ 0.58	$ 0.69	$ 0.32	$ 0.14	$ 0.89	$ (0.02)	$ 0.04	$ (0.06)	$ 1.73	$ 0.85	$ 0.55
Income (loss) from continuing operations, diluted (usd per share)	$ 0.56	$ 0.65	$ 0.31	$ 0.13	$ 0.87	$ (0.02)	$ 0.04	$ (0.06)	$ 1.67	$ 0.84	$ 0.55
Balances without adoption of ASC 606
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition
Sales									$ 1,071.2
Cost of sales									778.7
Selling, general and administrative expenses									182.1
Income tax expense									12.3
Net income from continuing operations attributable to Chart Industries, Inc.									$ 85.4
Net income from continuing operations attributable to Chart Industries, Inc. per common share:
Income (loss) from continuing operations, basic (usd per share)									$ 1.65
Income (loss) from continuing operations, diluted (usd per share)									$ 1.59
Effect of adoption Higher (Lower) \| ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition
Sales									$ 13.1
Cost of sales									9.7
Selling, general and administrative expenses									(0.2)
Income tax expense									1.1
Net income from continuing operations attributable to Chart Industries, Inc.									$ 2.6
Net income from continuing operations attributable to Chart Industries, Inc. per common share:
Income (loss) from continuing operations, basic (usd per share)									$ 0.08
Income (loss) from continuing operations, diluted (usd per share)									$ 0.08