diff --git a/CMakeLists_files.cmake b/CMakeLists_files.cmake
index 5e6cce2f8..c8bcabde3 100644
--- a/CMakeLists_files.cmake
+++ b/CMakeLists_files.cmake
@@ -323,6 +323,7 @@ list (APPEND PUBLIC_HEADER_FILES
   opm/autodiff/WellStateFullyImplicitBlackoil.hpp
   opm/autodiff/SimulatorFullyImplicitBlackoilOutput.hpp
   opm/autodiff/BlackoilOutputEbos.hpp
+  opm/autodiff/ThreadHandle.hpp
   opm/autodiff/VFPProperties.hpp
   opm/autodiff/VFPHelpers.hpp
   opm/autodiff/VFPProdProperties.hpp
diff --git a/opm/autodiff/BlackoilModelEbos.hpp b/opm/autodiff/BlackoilModelEbos.hpp
index bf4c6b81b..e216cf9bc 100644
--- a/opm/autodiff/BlackoilModelEbos.hpp
+++ b/opm/autodiff/BlackoilModelEbos.hpp
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@
 namespace Ewoms {
 namespace Properties {
 NEW_TYPE_TAG(EclFlowProblem, INHERITS_FROM(BlackOilModel, EclBaseProblem));
+SET_STRING_PROP(EclFlowProblem, EclOutputDir, "");
 SET_BOOL_PROP(EclFlowProblem, DisableWells, true);
 SET_BOOL_PROP(EclFlowProblem, EnableDebuggingChecks, false);
 SET_BOOL_PROP(EclFlowProblem, ExportGlobalTransmissibility, true);
diff --git a/opm/autodiff/SimulatorFullyImplicitBlackoilOutput.hpp b/opm/autodiff/SimulatorFullyImplicitBlackoilOutput.hpp
index 3c882fc77..27f87a8ba 100644
--- a/opm/autodiff/SimulatorFullyImplicitBlackoilOutput.hpp
+++ b/opm/autodiff/SimulatorFullyImplicitBlackoilOutput.hpp
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 #include <opm/autodiff/ParallelDebugOutput.hpp>
 
 #include <opm/autodiff/WellStateFullyImplicitBlackoil.hpp>
-#include <ebos/threadhandle.hh>
+#include <opm/autodiff/ThreadHandle.hpp>
 #include <opm/autodiff/AutoDiffBlock.hpp>
 
 #include <opm/parser/eclipse/EclipseState/EclipseState.hpp>
diff --git a/opm/autodiff/ThreadHandle.hpp b/opm/autodiff/ThreadHandle.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2d147ff76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/opm/autodiff/ThreadHandle.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,220 @@
+// -*- mode: C++; tab-width: 4; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 4 -*-
+// vi: set et ts=4 sw=4 sts=4:
+/*
+  This file is part of the Open Porous Media project (OPM).
+
+  OPM is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+  the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
+  (at your option) any later version.
+
+  OPM is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+  along with OPM.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+  Consult the COPYING file in the top-level source directory of this
+  module for the precise wording of the license and the list of
+  copyright holders.
+*/
+
+#ifndef OPM_THREADHANDLE_HPP
+#define OPM_THREADHANDLE_HPP
+
+#include <cassert>
+#include <dune/common/exceptions.hh>
+
+#include <thread>
+#include <mutex>
+#include <queue>
+
+namespace Opm
+{
+
+  class ThreadHandle
+  {
+  public:
+
+    /// \brief ObjectInterface class
+    /// Virtual interface for code to be run in a seperate thread.
+    class ObjectInterface
+    {
+    protected:
+      ObjectInterface() {}
+    public:
+      virtual ~ObjectInterface() {}
+      virtual void run() = 0;
+      virtual bool isEndMarker () const { return false; }
+    };
+
+    /// \brief ObjectWrapper class
+    /// Implementation of virtualization of template argument fullfilling
+    /// the virtual object interface.
+    template <class Object>
+    class ObjectWrapper : public ObjectInterface
+    {
+      Object obj_;
+    public:
+      ObjectWrapper( Object&& obj ) : obj_( std::move( obj ) ) {}
+      void run() { obj_.run(); }
+    };
+
+  protected:
+
+    /// \brief EndObject class
+    /// Empthy object marking thread termination.
+    class EndObject : public ObjectInterface
+    {
+    public:
+      void run () { }
+      bool isEndMarker () const { return true; }
+    };
+
+
+    /// \brief The ThreadHandleQueue class
+    /// Queue of objects to be handled by this thread.
+    class ThreadHandleQueue
+    {
+    public:
+      //! constructor creating object that is executed by thread
+      ThreadHandleQueue()
+        : objQueue_(), mutex_()
+      {
+      }
+
+      ~ThreadHandleQueue()
+      {
+        // wait until all objects have been written.
+        while( ! objQueue_.empty() )
+        {
+            wait();
+        }
+      }
+
+      //! insert object into threads queue
+      void push_back( std::unique_ptr< ObjectInterface >&& obj )
+      {
+        // lock mutex to make sure objPtr is not used
+        mutex_.lock();
+        objQueue_.emplace( std::move(obj) );
+        mutex_.unlock();
+      }
+
+      //! do the work until the queue received an end object
+      void run()
+      {
+        // wait until objects have been pushed to the queue
+        while( objQueue_.empty() )
+        {
+          // sleep one second
+          wait();
+        }
+
+        {
+            // lock mutex for access to objQueue_
+            mutex_.lock();
+
+            // get next object from queue
+            std::unique_ptr< ObjectInterface > obj( objQueue_.front().release() );
+            // remove object from queue
+            objQueue_.pop();
+
+            // unlock mutex for access to objQueue_
+            mutex_.unlock();
+
+            // if object is end marker terminate thread
+            if( obj->isEndMarker() ){
+                if( ! objQueue_.empty() ) {
+                    throw std::logic_error("ThreadHandleQueue: not all queued objects were executed");
+                }
+                return;
+            }
+
+            // execute object action
+            obj->run();
+        }
+
+        // keep thread running
+        run();
+      }
+
+    protected:
+      std::queue< std::unique_ptr< ObjectInterface > > objQueue_;
+      std::mutex  mutex_;
+
+      // no copying
+      ThreadHandleQueue( const ThreadHandleQueue& ) = delete;
+
+      // wait duration of 10 milli seconds
+      void wait() const
+      {
+          std::this_thread::sleep_for( std::chrono::milliseconds(10) );
+      }
+    }; // end ThreadHandleQueue
+
+    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+    //  end ThreadHandleQueue
+    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+    // start the thread by calling method run
+    static void startThread( ThreadHandleQueue* obj )
+    {
+       obj->run();
+    }
+
+    ThreadHandleQueue threadObjectQueue_;
+    std::unique_ptr< std::thread > thread_;
+
+  private:
+    // prohibit copying
+    ThreadHandle( const ThreadHandle& ) = delete;
+
+  public:
+    //! constructor creating ThreadHandle
+    //! \param isIORank  if true thread is created
+    ThreadHandle( const bool createThread )
+      : threadObjectQueue_(),
+        thread_()
+    {
+        if( createThread )
+        {
+           thread_.reset( new std::thread( startThread, &threadObjectQueue_ ) );
+           // detach thread into nirvana
+           thread_->detach();
+        }
+    } // end constructor
+
+    //! dispatch object to queue of separate thread
+    template <class Object>
+    void dispatch( Object&& obj )
+    {
+        if( thread_ )
+        {
+            typedef ObjectWrapper< Object >  ObjectPointer;
+            ObjectInterface* objPtr = new ObjectPointer( std::move(obj) );
+
+            // add object to queue of objects
+            threadObjectQueue_.push_back( std::unique_ptr< ObjectInterface > (objPtr) );
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            throw std::logic_error("ThreadHandle::dispatch called without thread being initialized (i.e. on non-ioRank)");
+        }
+    }
+
+    //! destructor terminating the thread
+    ~ThreadHandle()
+    {
+        if( thread_ )
+        {
+            // dispatch end object which will terminate the thread
+            threadObjectQueue_.push_back( std::unique_ptr< ObjectInterface > (new EndObject()) ) ;
+        }
+    }
+  };
+
+} // end namespace Opm
+#endif