Aluminum powder explosion accidents occurred frequently, but the mechanism of aluminum powder explosion is unclear. Therefore, the inhibitive effect of aluminum powder explosion plays a key role. To evaluate the inhi-bition capacity of different kinds of carbonates and phosphates:NaH2PO4, (NH4)2HPO4, NH4H2PO4, KHCO3 and NaHCO3 on aluminum deflagrations, a standard 20-L spherical chamber was used to determine the explosion se-verity, characterized by the maximum explosion pressure (Pmax). New parameters have been proposed:the min-imum significant inert concentration (MSIC) and the minimum complete inert concentration (MCIC), which characterized the effect of inert. Experimental results showed that from the minimum significant inert concen-tration (MSIC) and the minimum complete inert concentration (MCIC), phosphate can have a significant inhibiting effect. 40％ NaH2PO4 can totally inert the aluminum explosion, and 50％ (NH4)2HPO4 or 50％NH4H2PO4 can also suppress the explosion. Through simulation, phosphate mainly acts via a chemical inhibition pathway, which inhibits the reaction of aluminum powder and oxygen by catalyzing the recombination of H atoms and O atoms. Carbonate performs inhibition in chemically, producing CO2, diluting the oxygen around the aluminum powder. Studies indicated that the explosion pressure of the mixture decreases as the concentra-tion of inert dust increases. However, when the concentration of carbonates was low, SEEP (suppressant en-hanced explosion parameter) phenomenon was found. This research work has a potential industrial application in high hazard aluminum working condition, which can help decrease the explosion pressure and re-duce the accident loss.