In the process of heat transfer, the fluid type and external parameters have a significant impact on heat transfer performance. For this reason, the physical properties, pressure differences, and heat transfer rates of SiO2-water nanofluids have been experimentally investigated in a straight circular pipe. Experimental results revealed a great difference in physical properties between SiO2-water nanofluids and purified water. The friction factor of low-volume-concentration nanofluids was slightly increased for laminar flow and tended to be almost independent of the Reynolds number for turbulent flow. The heat transfer coefficient can be enhanced either by adding nanoparticles to purified water or by imposing a transverse vibration on the heat transfer surface. Using these two methods at the same time (compound heat transfer enhancement), heat transfer performance is much better than that with either method alone. The largest increase of about 182% was observed under conditions of compound heat transfer enhancement.