Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Earnings Per Share (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended									12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010		Mar. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Net income attributable to Chart Industries, Inc.	$ 8,415	$ 17,540	$ 10,591	$ 7,530	$ 9,802	$ 6,575	$ 2,399	[1]	$ 1,384	$ 44,076	$ 20,160	$ 61,011
Net income attributable to Chart Industries, Inc. per common share - basic	$ 0.29	$ 0.60	$ 0.36	$ 0.26	$ 0.34	$ 0.23	$ 0.08		$ 0.05	$ 1.51	$ 0.71	$ 2.14
Net income attributable to Chart Industries, Inc. per common share - diluted	$ 0.28	$ 0.59	$ 0.35	$ 0.25	$ 0.33	$ 0.23	$ 0.08		$ 0.05	$ 1.47	$ 0.69	$ 2.11
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - basic										29,165	28,534	28,457
Incremental shares issuable upon assumed conversion and exercise of stock options										748	721	524
Total shares - diluted										29,913	29,255	28,981
Stock Options [Member]
Earnings Per Share, Diluted, by Common Class, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Anti-dilutive stock options excluded from total shares-diluted										107	362	170

[1] Includes $1,124 gain from acquisition of business.