Debt And Credit Arrangements (Details) Share data in Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($) Y	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Convertible Notes Payable [Member] Convertible Notes, Due 2018 [Member] USD ($)	Aug. 03, 2011 Convertible Notes Payable [Member] Convertible Notes, Due 2018 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Convertible Notes Payable [Member] Convertible Notes, Due 2018 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Subordinated Debt [Member] Subordinated Notes, Due 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Subordinated Debt [Member] Subordinated Notes, Due 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit [Member] Senior Credit Facility [Member]	May 18, 2010 Line of Credit [Member] Senior Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit [Member] Revolver [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit [Member] Revolver [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit [Member] Revolver [Member] Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit [Member] Prior Senior Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit [Member] Foreign Facilities [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Line of Credit [Member] Foreign Facilities [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Term Loan [Member] Senior Term Loan, Due 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Term Loan [Member] Senior Term Loan, Due 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Revolving Line of Credit [Member] Revolver [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Revolving Line of Credit [Member] Revolver [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Revolving Line of Credit [Member] Revolver [Member] Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Credit Facility [Member] Senior Term Loan, Due 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Additional Paid-in Capital [Member] Convertible Notes Payable [Member] Convertible Notes, Due 2018 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Carrying Amount, Deferred Financing Fees [Member] Convertible Notes Payable [Member] Convertible Notes, Due 2018 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Chart Ferox [Member] Facility 2 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Flow Instruments And Engineering Gmbh [Member] EUR (€) lines_of_credit	Dec. 31, 2011 Bonding/Guarantee Facility [Member] Chart Cryogenic Engineering Systems Co., Ltd. [Member] Foreign Facilities [Member] CNY	Dec. 31, 2011 Revolving Line of Credit [Member] Chart Cryogenic Engineering Systems Co., Ltd. [Member] Foreign Facilities [Member] CNY	Dec. 31, 2011 Overdraft Facility [Member] Chart Cryogenic Engineering Systems Co., Ltd. [Member] Foreign Facilities [Member] CNY	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit [Member] Chart Cryogenic Engineering Systems Co., Ltd. [Member] Foreign Facilities [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit [Member] Chart Ferox [Member] CZK creditfacilities	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit [Member] Chart Ferox [Member] Facility 1 [Member] USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Gross amount of long-term debt				$ 174,474,000		$ 0	$ 0	$ 163,175,000									$ 55,250,000	$ 61,750,000
Short-term debt	4,758,000	0													4,758,000	0														4,758,000
Components of the Company's borrowings
Total debt	234,482,000	224,925,000
Less: current maturities	(11,258,000)	(6,500,000)
Long-term debt	223,224,000	218,425,000
Aggregate principal amount of debt				250,000,000	250,000,000
Proceeds from issuance of debt				242,700,000
Stated interest rate				2.00%
Minimum percentage of conversion price of Convertible Notes on each trading day				130.00%
Convertible Notes principal amount denominator for trading price				1,000,000
Unamortized discount	(75,526,000)			(75,526,000)
Maximum allowable percentage of the product of the last reported sale price of Common Stock and coversion rate for Convertible Notes Payable				97.00%
Number of common shares convertible				14.4865
Conversion price per share				$ 69.03
Percent of the principal amount of the Convertible Notes plus accrued interest to be purchased by the Company subject to Company undergoing a fundamental change				100.00%
Minimum holding percentage of convertible notes payable required to declare Convertible Notes to be due and payable in events of default				25.00%
Percent of Convertible Notes declarable as due and payable in certain events of default				100.00%
Number of shares of convertible debt hedged and capped call				3,622
Convertible Notes payment call options and capped call transactions	66,486,000	0	0	(66,486,000)
Initial cap price of the call transactions and the strike price of warrant transactions				$ 84.96
Proceeds from issuance of warrants	48,848,000	0	0	48,848,000
Net cost of Convertible Note Hedge and all capped transactions				17,638,000
Liability component of Convertible Notes before present value calculation					170,885,000
Carrying value of equity component				79,115,000	79,115,000
Percentage used as debt rate for present value of cash flows				7.90%
Interest expense for the Convertible Notes				5,672,000
Debt instrument interest expense excluding non-cash accretion expense				2,083,000
Interest accretion of convertible notes discount	3,589,000	0	0	3,589,000
Carrying amount of deferred financing fees				(7,277,000)																			(2,303,000)	(4,974,000)
Principal amount of liability component				250,000,000
Carrying value of liability component				174,474,000
Number of years to maturity	5
Maximum borrowing capicity of line of credit facility										200,000,000							65,000,000		135,000,000							320,000	30,000,000	60,000,000	10,000,000		175,000,000
Number of Credit Facilities Maintained																															2
Deferred financing fees written off due to refinancing							2,969,000							1,706,000
Sub-limit for issuance of swingline loans																			25,000,000
Sub-limit for letters of credit																			50,000,000
Maximum amount for foreign currency denominated letters of credit and borrowings																			40,000,000
Maximum amount of permitable subsidiary borrowings																			40,000,000
Periodic payment of debt instrument																	1,625,000
Percentage in excess of federal funds rate related to election of ABR borrowing																	0.50%
Percentage in excess of LIBOR rate related to election of ABR borrowing																	1.00%
Commitment fee percentage												0.30%	0.50%
Applicable Margin for Eurocurrency Revolving Facility Borrowings																				2.00%	3.50%
Fronting fee percentage charged for issuance of letters of credit											0.125%
Maximum percentage of capital stock guaranteed by company's material Non-U.S. subsidiaries for obligations under the Senior Credit Facility									65.00%
Amount of extinguished debt							163,175,000
Subordinated notes redemption price percentage of principal							103.042%
Remption price of Subordinated Notes principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest							175,600,000
Call premium in conjunction with redemption of Subordinated Notes							4,964,000
Amount of letters of credit outstanding																						35,875,000
Amount of line of credit facility outstanding																			0
Number of lines of credit maintained by Flow																										2
Letter of credit and guarantee fees percentage of face amount for maturities up to one year																																0.70%
Letter of credit and guarantee fees percentage of face amount for maturities between one and three years																																0.80%
Letter of credit and guarantee fees percentage of face amount for maturities between three and five years																																1.20%
Letter of credit and guarantee fees percentage of face amount for all maturities																									0.70%
Bank guarantees supported by credit facilities																																2,248,000
Maturities of Long-term Debt [Abstract]
2012	11,258,000
2013	6,500,000
2014	6,500,000
2015	35,750,000
2016	0
Thereafter	250,000,000
Total	310,008,000
Interest paid	16,608,000	16,774,000	16,820,000
Fair value of debt instrument																	$ 45,426,000
Weighted average interest rate of debt																	2.73%
Effective interest rate of debt				7.90%			9.125%
Minimum trading days required during thirty consecutive trading days where last reported sales price is at least 130 percent of conversion price	20 days
Maximum days after any five trading day period in which trading price was less than 97 percent of last reported sale price of Common Stock times conversion rate	5 days
Revolving line of credit time to maturity	12 months