Basis of Preparation	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Basis of Preparation	Basis of Preparation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Chart Industries, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries (the “Company” or “Chart”) have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for annual financial statements. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2017. Nature of Operations: Chart Industries, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries (herein referred to as the “Company,” “Chart,” or “we”), is a leading diversified global manufacturer of highly engineered equipment for the industrial gas, energy, and biomedical industries. Chart’s equipment and engineered systems are primarily used for low-temperature and cryogenic applications utilizing our expertise in cryogenic systems and equipment which operate at low temperatures sometimes approaching absolute zero (0 Kelvin; -273° Centigrade; -459° Fahrenheit). The Company has domestic operations located across the United States, including principal executive offices located in Ohio, and an international presence in Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America. Principles of Consolidation: The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. Intercompany accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation. Use of Estimates: The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. These estimates may also affect the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates and assumptions. Cash, Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash, and Restricted Cash Equivalents: The Company considers all investments with an initial maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. See Debt and Credit Arrangements note for additional information about restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents, which is included in other current assets and other assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. Recently Issued Accounting Standards: In March 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017-07, “Compensation — Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost.” The new guidance requires companies with sponsored defined benefit pension and/or other postretirement benefit plans to present the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost in the same income statement line item as other compensation costs. The other components of net periodic benefit cost will be presented separately and not included in operating income. In addition, only service costs are eligible to be capitalized as an asset. The standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those years, and the guidance will generally be applied retroactively, whereas the capitalization of the service cost component will be applied prospectively. Early adoption is permitted with all of the amendments adopted in the same period. If an entity early adopts the guidance in an interim period, any adjustments must be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. The Company is currently assessing the effect that the ASU will have on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, and disclosures. In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, “Intangibles — Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment.” The new guidance eliminates the requirement to calculate the implied fair value of goodwill (Step 2 of the current guidance’s goodwill impairment test) to measure a goodwill impairment charge. Instead, entities will record an impairment charge based on the excess of a reporting unit’s carrying amount over its fair value (i.e., measure the charge based on current guidance’s Step 1). The guidance will be applied prospectively for annual and interim impairment tests beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for annual and interim goodwill impairment testing dates after January 1, 2017. The adoption of this ASU would not materially impact the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements unless Step 1 of the annual goodwill impairment test fails. In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments.” The FASB issued the update to clarify how entities should classify certain cash receipts and cash payments on the statement of cash flows. The new guidance also clarifies how the predominance principle should be applied when cash receipts and cash payments have aspects of more than one class of cash flows. The standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those years, and the guidance will generally be applied retroactively. Early adoption is permitted with all of the amendments adopted in the same period. If an entity early adopts the guidance in an interim period, any adjustments must be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. The Company is currently assessing the effect that the ASU will have on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of cash flows. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842).” The FASB issued the update to require the recognition of lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet of lessees. The standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within such fiscal years. The ASU requires a modified retrospective transition method with the option to elect a package of practical expedients. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the effect that the ASU will have on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, cash flows, and disclosures. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers.” The amendments require entities to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, which deferred the effective date of the new standard by one year. As a result, the standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within such fiscal years. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, which amended the principal versus agent guidance in the new revenue standard. This amended guidance is intended to result in a more consistent application and reduce the cost and complexity of applying the new standard. In April 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-10, which amended the guidance to clarify accounting for licenses of intellectual property and to clarify the guidance on performance obligations. In May 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-12, which provided narrow-scope amendments and practical expedients for the new revenue standard and is intended to reduce the cost and complexity of applying the new standard. In December 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-20, which is intended to clarify or correct narrow aspects of the guidance issued in ASU 2014-09. The new revenue recognition ASU allows full retrospective or modified retrospective adoption. Early adoption is permitted as of fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company intends to adopt this ASU on January 1, 2018 and has developed an implementation plan to adopt this new guidance. As part of this plan, the Company has identified its revenue streams and is in the process of performing contract reviews to assess the impact of the new guidance on its results of operations. The Company has not yet selected a transition method, but expects to do so in the second quarter of 2017 upon completion of further analysis. Recently Adopted Accounting Standards: In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash.” The FASB issued the update to clarify how restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents should be presented in the statement of cash flows. The standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those years, and the guidance will generally be applied retroactively. Early adoption is permitted with all of the amendments adopted in the same period. If an entity early adopts the guidance in an interim period, any adjustments must be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. The Company is adopting the amendments provided in ASU 2016-18 in these condensed consolidated financial statements to provide financial statement users with more transparent disclosure about restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents. Upon adoption, the amendments provided in this update are applied using a retrospective transition method to each period presented. There was no impact on the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2016, upon adoption of the amendments in this update, because there was no restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents during this period. The cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and restricted cash equivalents balance included $6,436 and $990 of restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. Restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents are included in other current assets and other assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, “Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting.” The FASB issued the update to change certain aspects of accounting for share-based payments to employees. The update eliminates additional paid-in-capital pools and requires all income tax effects of awards to be recognized in the statements of operations when the awards vest or settle. The ASU allows companies to make an accounting policy election to estimate forfeitures, as required today, or record them when they occur and allows companies to withhold an amount up to the maximum statutory tax rate without causing the award to be classified as a liability. Within the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows, the ASU requires excess tax benefits to be classified as an operating activity and cash payments to tax authorities in connection with shares withheld to be classified as a financing activity. The ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within such fiscal years. The Company adopted this guidance effective January 1, 2017. The Company prospectively recognized the excess income tax effects of awards as income tax expense or benefit in the condensed statements of operations and has elected to continue to estimate the number of share-based awards expected to vest rather than electing to account for forfeitures as they occur. In addition, the Company prospectively recognized the excess tax benefits along with other income tax cash flows as an operating activity in the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows. In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11, “Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory.” The amendments require an entity to measure inventory at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. The amendments do not apply to inventory that is measured using the last-in, first-out cost method. The amendments apply to all other inventory, which includes inventory that is measured using first-in, first-out or average cost. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company adopted this guidance prospectively for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2017. The adoption of the guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.

Basis of Preparation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Chart Industries, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries (the “Company” or “Chart”) have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for annual financial statements. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2017.

Nature of Operations: Chart Industries, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries (herein referred to as the “Company,” “Chart,” or “we”), is a leading diversified global manufacturer of highly engineered equipment for the industrial gas, energy, and biomedical industries. Chart’s equipment and engineered systems are primarily used for low-temperature and cryogenic applications utilizing our expertise in cryogenic systems and equipment which operate at low temperatures sometimes approaching absolute zero (0 Kelvin; -273° Centigrade; -459° Fahrenheit). The Company has domestic operations located across the United States, including principal executive offices located in Ohio, and an international presence in Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America.

Principles of Consolidation: The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. Intercompany accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates: The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. These estimates may also affect the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates and assumptions.

Cash, Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash, and Restricted Cash Equivalents: The Company considers all investments with an initial maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. See Debt and Credit Arrangements note for additional information about restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents, which is included in other current assets and other assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards: In March 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017-07, “Compensation — Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost.” The new guidance requires companies with sponsored defined benefit pension and/or other postretirement benefit plans to present the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost in the same income statement line item as other compensation costs. The other components of net periodic benefit cost will be presented separately and not included in operating income. In addition, only service costs are eligible to be capitalized as an asset. The standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those years, and the guidance will generally be applied retroactively, whereas the capitalization of the service cost component will be applied prospectively. Early adoption is permitted with all of the amendments adopted in the same period. If an entity early adopts the guidance in an interim period, any adjustments must be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. The Company is currently assessing the effect that the ASU will have on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, and disclosures.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, “Intangibles — Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment.” The new guidance eliminates the requirement to calculate the implied fair value of goodwill (Step 2 of the current guidance’s goodwill impairment test) to measure a goodwill impairment charge. Instead, entities will record an impairment charge based on the excess of a reporting unit’s carrying amount over its fair value (i.e., measure the charge based on current guidance’s Step 1). The guidance will be applied prospectively for annual and interim impairment tests beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for annual and interim goodwill impairment testing dates after January 1, 2017. The adoption of this ASU would not materially impact the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements unless Step 1 of the annual goodwill impairment test fails.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments.” The FASB issued the update to clarify how entities should classify certain cash receipts and cash payments on the statement of cash flows. The new guidance also clarifies how the predominance principle should be applied when cash receipts and cash payments have aspects of more than one class of cash flows. The standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those years, and the guidance will generally be applied retroactively. Early adoption is permitted with all of the amendments adopted in the same period. If an entity early adopts the guidance in an interim period, any adjustments must be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. The Company is currently assessing the effect that the ASU will have on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of cash flows.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842).” The FASB issued the update to require the recognition of lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet of lessees. The standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within such fiscal years. The ASU requires a modified retrospective transition method with the option to elect a package of practical expedients. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the effect that the ASU will have on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, cash flows, and disclosures.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers.” The amendments require entities to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, which deferred the effective date of the new standard by one year. As a result, the standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within such fiscal years. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-08, which amended the principal versus agent guidance in the new revenue standard. This amended guidance is intended to result in a more consistent application and reduce the cost and complexity of applying the new standard. In April 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-10, which amended the guidance to clarify accounting for licenses of intellectual property and to clarify the guidance on performance obligations. In May 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-12, which provided narrow-scope amendments and practical expedients for the new revenue standard and is intended to reduce the cost and complexity of applying the new standard. In December 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-20, which is intended to clarify or correct narrow aspects of the guidance issued in ASU 2014-09. The new revenue recognition ASU allows full retrospective or modified retrospective adoption. Early adoption is permitted as of fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company intends to adopt this ASU on January 1, 2018 and has developed an implementation plan to adopt this new guidance. As part of this plan, the Company has identified its revenue streams and is in the process of performing contract reviews to assess the impact of the new guidance on its results of operations. The Company has not yet selected a transition method, but expects to do so in the second quarter of 2017 upon completion of further analysis.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards: In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash.” The FASB issued the update to clarify how restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents should be presented in the statement of cash flows. The standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those years, and the guidance will generally be applied retroactively. Early adoption is permitted with all of the amendments adopted in the same period. If an entity early adopts the guidance in an interim period, any adjustments must be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period.

The Company is adopting the amendments provided in ASU 2016-18 in these condensed consolidated financial statements to provide financial statement users with more transparent disclosure about restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents. Upon adoption, the amendments provided in this update are applied using a retrospective transition method to each period presented. There was no impact on the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2016, upon adoption of the amendments in this update, because there was no restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents during this period. The cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and restricted cash equivalents balance included $6,436 and $990 of restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. Restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents are included in other current assets and other assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, “Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting.” The FASB issued the update to change certain aspects of accounting for share-based payments to employees. The update eliminates additional paid-in-capital pools and requires all income tax effects of awards to be recognized in the statements of operations when the awards vest or settle. The ASU allows companies to make an accounting policy election to estimate forfeitures, as required today, or record them when they occur and allows companies to withhold an amount up to the maximum statutory tax rate without causing the award to be classified as a liability. Within the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows, the ASU requires excess tax benefits to be classified as an operating activity and cash payments to tax authorities in connection with shares withheld to be classified as a financing activity. The ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within such fiscal years. The Company adopted this guidance effective January 1, 2017.

The Company prospectively recognized the excess income tax effects of awards as income tax expense or benefit in the condensed statements of operations and has elected to continue to estimate the number of share-based awards expected to vest rather than electing to account for forfeitures as they occur. In addition, the Company prospectively recognized the excess tax benefits along with other income tax cash flows as an operating activity in the condensed consolidated statements of cash flows.

In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11, “Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory.” The amendments require an entity to measure inventory at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. The amendments do not apply to inventory that is measured using the last-in, first-out cost method. The amendments apply to all other inventory, which includes inventory that is measured using first-in, first-out or average cost. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company adopted this guidance prospectively for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2017. The adoption of the guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.