Carbon dioxide (CO2) geosequestration in deep saline aquifers has been currently deemed as a preferable and practicable mitigation means for reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions to the atmosphere, as deep saline aquifers can offer the greatest potential from a capacity point of view. Hence, research on core-scale CO2/brine multiphase migration processes is of great significance for precisely estimating storage efficiency, ensuring storage security, and predicting the long-term effects of the sequestered CO2 in subsurface saline aquifers. This review article initially presents a brief description of the essential aspects of CO2 subsurface transport and geological trapping mechanisms, and then outlines the state-of-the-art laboratory core flooding experimental apparatus that has been adopted for simulating CO2 injection and migration processes in the literature over the past decade. Finally, a summary of the characteristics, components and applications of publicly reported core flooding equipment as well as major research gaps and areas in need of further study are given in relevance to laboratory-scale core flooding experiments in CO2 geosequestration under reservoir conditions

Monitoring the migration of pore pressure, deformation, and saturation plumes with effective tools is important for the storage and utilization of fluids in underground reservoirs, such as geological stores of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and natural gas. Such tools would also verify the security of the fluid contained reservoir‐caprock system. Utilizing the swelling strain attributed to pressure buildup and the adsorption of supercritical CO₂ on clay minerals, we tracked the fluid plume in a natural clay‐rich Tako sandstone at the laboratory core scale. The strain was measured by a high‐resolution distributed fiber optic strain sensing (DFOSS) tool. The strain changes induced by CO₂ adsorptions on clay minerals were significantly greater than those caused by pore pressure alone. The distribution of the swelling strain signals effectively captured the dynamic breakthrough of the CO₂ plume from the high‐ to low‐permeability regions in the Tako sandstone. Besides revealing the in situ deformation state, the measured strain changes can track the movement of the CO₂ plume as it enters the clay‐rich critical regions in the reservoir‐caprock system. The present findings and potential future applications of DFOSS in the field are expected to enhance the monitoring and management of underground fluid reservoirs.