Water based nanofluid with CuO nanoparticles heat transfer augmentation inside a porous enclosure is studied. Porous media is simulated by Darcy model. Control volume based finite element method (CVFEM) is employed to reach the numerical results. Impact of Hartmann number (Ha), nanofluid volume fraction (phi), radiation parameter (Rd) and Rayleigh number (Ra) on nanofluid heat transfer characteristics were demonstrated. A good correlation for Nu(ave) is offered for this problem. Results depict that shape of isotherms become more complex with augment of buoyancy forces. Average Nusselt number enhances with considering thermal radiation while it decreases with rise of Hartmann number. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.