Earnings Per Share - Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ 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
Net income attributable to Chart Industries, Inc.
Income from continuing operations	$ 18.0	$ 21.5	$ 9.9	$ 4.2	$ 27.5	$ (0.6)	$ 1.2	$ (1.9)	$ 53.6	$ 26.2	$ 17.0
Income from discontinued operations									34.4	1.8	11.2
Net income 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
Earnings per common share – basic:
Income from continuing operations (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 from discontinued operations (usd per share)	0.94	0.03	0.08	0.05	(0.02)	0.07	0.05	(0.03)	1.10	0.06	0.37
Net income attributable to Chart Industries, Inc. (usd per share)	1.52	0.72	0.40	0.19	0.87	0.05	0.09	(0.09)	2.83	0.91	0.92
Earnings per common share – diluted:
Income from continuing operations (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
Income from discontinued operations (usd per share)	0.91	0.02	0.07	0.05	(0.02)	0.07	0.05	(0.03)	1.06	0.05	0.36
Net income attributable to Chart Industries, Inc. (usd per share)	$ 1.47	$ 0.67	$ 0.38	$ 0.18	$ 0.85	$ 0.05	$ 0.09	$ (0.09)	$ 2.73	$ 0.89	$ 0.91
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding — basic (shares)									31,050	30,740	30,580
Incremental shares issuable upon assumed conversion and exercise of share-based awards (shares)									770	600	400
Incremental shares issuable due to dilutive effect of the Convertible Notes (shares)									380	0	0
Incremental shares issuable due to dilutive effect of warrants (shares)									0	0	0
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding — diluted (shares)									32,200	31,340	30,980