Nowadays, improving energy consumption and thermal performance of systems has attracted considerable attention from researchers. The use of nanofluids in porous media is a common method to enhance heat transfer rates. In this study, heat transfer and fluid flow inside a pipe containing a porous medium saturated with a nanofluid were numerically investigated. A two-dimensional model with the assumptions of laminar flow, constant temperature, and water-silver nanofluid was developed to enhance heat transfer. The main objective was to achieve simultaneously the lowest friction factor and the highest heat transfer rate. The study was conducted for a nanofluid volume fraction of f = 0.05, porosity ε in the range of 0.08 < ε < 0.98, and variable Darcy number in the range of 10⁻⁸ < Da < 10⁻², with friction factor CF = 0.19 and Nusselt number K = 6.09 for a steel pipe. The results showed that decreasing the Darcy number leads to an increase in the Nusselt number (approximately 94% along the pipe length) and friction factor. The enhanced heat transfer is attributed to the increased interaction between the nanofluid and the porous matrix. Larger Darcy numbers result in lower energy recovery compared to energy loss. Temperature reduction may also contribute to the increase in Nusselt number. Furthermore, increases in velocity, pressure, and Reynolds number along the pipe were identified as factors that raise the friction factor.